Recent Blog Posts
I Want to Change My DuPage County Divorce Decree. Is This Allowed?
Most divorced couples never want to see the inside of an Illinois courtroom again. But life changes over time, and the circumstances that necessitated certain arrangements in a divorce decree may no longer apply. If you are divorced and have recently experienced a significant change in your circumstances, you may want to petition an Illinois court for a divorce decree modification. Modifications are only approved in specific circumstances; for more information about whether you may be able to request a modification, read on.
When Can a Divorce Decree Be Modified in DuPage County?
A divorce decree usually permanently settles all the issues in a divorce. Property division, child custody arrangements, and spousal support are all described in detail in a divorce decree and courts will not usually modify the terms unless certain requirements are met.
When Should You Introduce Your Children to Your New Dating Partner?
Often times, when a married couple splits they go on to meet new people and might even get remarried eventually. Getting a divorce does not mean that a person is destined to be alone or should never date again. However, dating during or after a divorce can be tricky. If your divorce is not finalized and you meet a new romantic interest, when should you introduce him or her to your children? The answer to questions like these are not always absolute, but experts do have advice for those who have met someone new in the midst of a divorce.
Dating During Divorce Can Affect Court Decisions
There are a few instances when a person might still be technically married but has a new romantic partner. Some marriages are over long before they are legally dissolved, and the spouses may physically separate while the divorce process continues. However, when a divorce is in progress, dating during this time can indirectly affect some decisions made by the court. For example, if your new partner has a criminal record or has been accused of child abuse, the court may limit or place stipulations on your parenting time. Depending the specific circumstances, a judge presiding over a divorce has the authority to take new romantic partners into consideration when making decisions about child custody, spousal support (alimony), and parenting time/visitation.
Protecting the Rights of Non-Marital Children
The most recent data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that approximately 40 percent of all births in the United States in a given year are to unmarried women. While this was formerly a cause for shame or concern, in this day and age, there is often much less stigma, but children out of wedlock do sometimes require additional considerations to ensure their rights are protected. If you are the parent of a child born outside of marriage, it is important to be aware that there may be extra steps you need to take to protect your child legally.
Paternity and Custody
Many of the major disputes over the rights of children occur when custody or parental responsibilities are in question. With marital children, custody arrangements are fairly straightforward, given that Illinois law grants visitation (parenting time) to both parents unless it would endanger the physical, moral, or emotional health of the child. With non-marital children, there are other considerations—namely, the issue of paternity.
More Baby Boomer Women Seeking Divorces
Most people probably think it is unlikely that many couples would divorce after decades of marriage. In reality, this phenomenon of so-called "gray divorces" is a growing trend. Specifically, women over age 50 are more frequently initiating divorces.
According to data from the National Center for Family and Marriage, baby boomer couples now represent one out of every four divorces. This is up significantly since 1990, when baby boomers were only involved in one out of 10 divorces. Such divorces later in life are more likely to be initiated by women. According to a survey by AARP, in marriages among seniors women initiate 66 percent of the divorces.
There are probably a variety of factors behind these trends. Once spouses retire and their children have left the nest couples often spend more time at home together. This may cause differences to be magnified and tensions between the couple to grow. People are also living longer, and may not want to continue to devote time and effort to an unsatisfying relationship.
Child Support and Remarriage
Divorce is the last thing a newlywed couple wants to consider in regards to their future. Yet sadly, not every couple remains happy throughout the course of their marriage. Marriages can result in separation, divorce, and eventually remarriage. While current statistics indicate that the remarriage rate has decreased 40 percent over the past 20 years, there are individuals who continue to embrace the opportunity to remarry. And surprisingly, when divorcees remarry, the new spouse may be required to contribute to child support payments.
Traditionally, new spouses were not considered when calculating child support payments because stepparents do not have a legal obligation to support their stepchildren. However, the law on this issue progressed with the Illinois Appellate Court decision. In the Marriage of Drysch, it was decided that "a trial court may equitably consider the income of a parent's current spouse in determining an appropriate award of child support."
Including Both Parents on School Forms
The return of fall signals back-to-school time for children across the country. A new school year brings a flurry of forms for parents of school-aged children to fill out, such as emergency contact information forms and permission slips for who has a right to pick a child up from school. When a child's parents are not married and share child custody, sometimes school forms cause problems down the road if one parent is not included.
It is usually beneficial to list both parents on most school forms, even if one parent does not have primary physical custody. In fact, most custody judgments require both parents to be listed on school forms. If a non-custodial parent is not listed as a person who can pick a child up from school, the non-custodial parent may not be allowed to get his or her child from school if an emergency arises or during times when he or she has parenting time with the child.
While it may merely be an oversight, the child involved is the one who really loses out, when both parents are not listed on the records as the child has less access to the other parent.
Study Identifies the Cultural Effects of Divorce on Daughters
While a parental divorce can be a struggle for most children, a study from the University of California at Berkeley identified that in our culture, daughters tend to suffer disproportionately. This happens because, according to the study, marriages with firstborn daughters tend to end in divorce more often than marriages with firstborn sons, all else holding equal.
The paper reports that the chances of a firstborn girl living without a father are 3.1 percent higher than a firstborn boy, which, they say, is a difference of approximately 5,000 girls a year. This increase in divorce among the parents of daughters can cause long term problems if both parents do not take steps to avoid them.
Why the Difference?
While the study did not delve deeply into the causes of the gender difference, the study’s authors put forward three possible theories to explain the gender gap. The first theory is a simple preference of parents towards sons. If parents or even just fathers prefer having male children, then it would keep the family happier, and consequently reduce incidences of divorce. But, the authors also provided two alternative, non-gender-biased explanations for the difference.
Factors Determining Property Division in Illinois
If you are planning to get divorced, you are probably wondering how you and your spouse’s property will be divided. Since Illinois is an “equitable division” state, marital property is divided equitably, but not necessarily evenly. While some states split marital property 50/50, Illinois courts have the freedom to award more marital property to one spouse than the other if such an arrangement is found to be fair. When the court is dividing marital property and debt, there are specific guidelines they must follow.
How Property Decisions Are Made
Illinois courts look at twelve main factors when making property division decisions in a divorce. The first factor is each party’s contribution. More specifically, the court must consider how each spouse contributed "to the acquisition, preservation, or increase or decrease in value, of the marital or non-marital property.” Each spouse’s income is considered as well the non-monetary contributions the spouses made to the marriage including homemaking and child-rearing. Courts will also consider any dissipation, or wasting or hiding of assets, when making decisions about property division. For example, a spouse who used martial funds to finance an affair during the marriage may receive less of the marital property. The value of the property which is assigned to each spouse is also taken into consideration.
Are Cold Feet a Sign That Divorce Lies Ahead?
Psychology researchers at UCLA conducted a four year study to determine whether cold feet before a wedding could predict divorce. Their answer: yes and no. It turns out that women’s doubts before a wedding may signal trouble ahead for the marriage, while men’s doubts do not correlate with significantly higher divorce rates.
The study divided marriages into four groups: marriages in which neither spouse had doubts, marriages in which the men had doubts, marriages in which the women had doubts, and marriages in which both the men and the women had doubts. The first group contained 36 percent of marriages, with neither side having doubts. In this group, the divorce rate was only six percent. Among the group of marriages with only male doubts, that number rose to 10 percent, an increase that the study’s authors say is too small to have significance. Conversely, marriages involving women with cold feet ended in divorce three times as often as those where neither side had any doubts; 18 percent reported divorce by the four-year mark. And, in cases where both sides had doubt, the number increases slightly to a 20 percent divorce rate, only a small difference from the women-only pool of marriages. The researchers attribute these differences to the fact that women are often more attuned to the dynamics of the relationship. Consequently, they do not get cold feet as much as men do, but when they do, they tend to be better at noticing real causes for concern.
How Couples Counseling Can Save a Marriage
Couples counseling can be an intimidating concept. No one immediately likes the idea of opening their relationship up to another person, but each year millions of people participate in couples counseling. Many find it to be a healthy and rewarding experience, and in some cases even a way to avoid divorce. Couples can increase these benefits if they take proactive steps beforehand. Learning what to expect, how to prepare, and what success means ahead of time can make the whole process easier and more approachable
What to Expect
Couples counseling is a conversation, sometimes with the counselor and sometimes with each other. While every counselor has a unique style, the early sessions will probably start off with open-ended “getting to know you questions.” The therapist will want to know what brought you to their office, and they will probably want to hear about the history of your relationship as well. The counselor could also split you up for some one-on-one time, or even bring you in for individual appointments so that they can get a better picture of what is going on in the relationship. Then, over the course of the sessions, the therapist will start to act as a neutral moderator, helping the couple openly and honestly discuss their relationship.