Recent Blog Posts
3 Tips for Helping Children Get Used to Your New Partner After Divorce
It is difficult enough for your child to deal with his or her parents’ divorce, but adjusting to your new romantic partner can add additional stress. This can complicate things further and make the post-divorce transition more challenging for everyone involved. In these cases, it is a good idea to make plans for how you will help your children get acclimated to your new significant other. By keeping your children’s best interests in mind, you can help them accept your new partner and ensure that your family is prepared for success in the years to come.
Ways to Help Your Children Get Comfortable With Your New Partner
Your new partner will likely want to be a part of your kids’ lives and help you out with parenting duties where they can. You can help ease them into this new role in the following ways:
How Common Are Divorces in Illinois and the United States?
For many years, people have insisted that there has been a definite trend in which the number of divorces has increased every year. However, the truth contradicts this belief, and that truth is far more complex than most people would imagine. Divorce is often not an easy decision or an easy process, and it takes time and careful deliberation to come to an understanding and acceptance of it. Because of this, it is not something that people take lightly.
Dispelling the Myth That Half of All Marriages End in Divorce
Before getting married, people are often warned that “half of all marriages end in divorce,” and this supposed statistic may be used to suggest that a person should think long and hard before taking the plunge. However, the actual statistics show an entirely different story. These days, the national divorce rate is not 50%; it is actually closer to 39 %. Overall, divorce rates have been steadily declining since the 1980s, which is when they peaked. In addition, the state of Illinois itself has a much lower divorce rate than the national average.
5 Tips for Dealing with the Grieving Process After Divorce
The “five stages of grief,” which were first theorized by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, have been common knowledge for years. While many thinkers have made changes or additions to the original list of stages—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—understanding these five steps can still be a good starting point for anyone dealing with loss. Even though they originally applied to the grief resulting from a person’s death, these stages are relevant to any type of loss, including the loss you will experience when you get a divorce.
How to Address Divorce-Related Grief
With the stages of grief to guide you, here are five productive tips to help you manage the grieving process when getting divorced:
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Be prepared. The end of your marriage is a major life event, and as with a loved one’s death, it is a significant loss in your life. As such, it must be handled with the same degree of care and awareness as bereavement. You need to be prepared for many of those usual grieving stages. Most importantly, you need to know that it will take time for your world to settle into some semblance of stability again. If you are not mentally prepared, you could find yourself suffering through the grieving process much longer than necessary.
What Are the Benefits of Filing for Bankruptcy Before Divorce?
In many cases, finances can be a leading factor in the choice to get a divorce. Married couples might be faced with difficult financial challenges, such as the expenses related to serious health problems or the loss of income resulting from unemployment. If a marriage was already unsteady, or even if it was seemingly going well, disagreements over finances can often be the catalyst for the breakdown of the relationship. Depending on your financial situation as a married couple, you might be considering both divorce and bankruptcy. Since both of these are major life events and significant legal decisions, careful thought must be given to them, and the appropriate time must be chosen to proceed with each.
Reasons to File for Bankruptcy Before Divorce
If you and your spouse are on the same page about your finances, and you share the majority of the debt, filing a joint bankruptcy before beginning the divorce process might be the right move for you. Here are some reasons why you may choose this option:
How Can Pregnancy Affect a Divorce in Illinois?
Most divorce cases involve a variety of complex issues, but there are some situations that may leave spouses wondering about their rights and how they can protect themselves going forward. One concern that some divorcing couples may face is determining how to proceed when they are expecting a child. Emotional and psychological issues notwithstanding, there are many challenges that may arise when getting a divorce while a spouse is pregnant.
Legal Issues Involved When Divorcing While Pregnant
A spouse’s pregnancy can greatly complicate the divorce process. Some of the issues that may need to be addressed in these cases include:
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No Simplified Divorce—Although some married couples can get a simplified divorce, this option is not available if the spouses have children together or are expecting a child. This means the divorce proceedings will be more involved, and they may take longer to resolve.
Are There Benefits to Getting a Civil Union Instead of a Marriage?
In 2011, Illinois passed into law the Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act. This law enabled both same-sex and opposite-sex couples the freedom to enter into a civil union that would give them the same legal rights in Illinois as those provided by marriage. With the new term “civil union” meant to be a substitute for “domestic partnership,” all prior domestic partnerships registered would be honored, but any future similar relationships would be referred to as civil unions.
While civil unions in Illinois were initially meant to help same-sex couples achieve similar legal rights to married couples, these legal partnerships may now be pursued for other reasons. After the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage throughout the United States in 2015, most states converted all domestic partnerships and civil unions to marriages; however, Illinois is one of the few states that kept civil unions despite this legalization. Now that all couples, regardless of sex, can get married, why would anyone choose a civil union instead of a marriage?
How Do Pet Ownership Trends Affect Illinois Divorce Cases?
For many couples, pets become a part of their family. In fact, couples who do not have kids often treat their pets more like children, caring for them and their best interests as if they were the couple’s own offspring. As a result of this growing trend, the legal system has recently needed to adapt, and when it comes to divorce, pet custody has become a much more complicated issue.
Trends in Pet Ownership
It is true: pets are becoming more and more a part of our families. Your cat might rub its head against you out of warm affection, or your dog might try to comfort you with a lick on the face when you are upset. It is easy to see why pets are viewed as sentient beings like children as opposed to property. Statistics show that this trend is likely to continue:
Should We Stay Together for the Kids Instead of Getting a Divorce?
One common question that married couples often need to face is whether they should stay together for their kids. In many cases, there may be equally convincing arguments for getting a divorce or staying together. The decision will ultimately depend on your situation and whether you think you and your spouse will be able to meet your children’s needs after your divorce. Before you decide on how to proceed, you may want to consider how your divorce will affect your children and whether other factors will play a role in your case.
The Effects of Divorce on Children
Studies suggest that divorce can have substantial short-term effects on children. These may include:
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Emotional disturbances, such as anxiety, anger, and stress
What Is Considered When Awarding Maintenance in an Illinois Divorce?
If you will be getting a divorce and expect to either receive spousal maintenance or provide spousal support to your former partner, you might want to know what a judge will consider when making a decision about who will owe what in terms of long-term maintenance and alimony. In cases where your and your spouse’s lawyers are working together to come to an agreement through collaborative law or mediation, knowing these factors might be even more helpful to you.
Deciding Factors In Spousal Support Determinations
While the following list is not exhaustive, these are the majority of the major factors taken into consideration when determining whether spousal support should be awarded in an Illinois divorce:
How Have Divorce Cases Changed Without the Alimony Tax Deduction?
On January 1, 2019, a provision of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 went into effect that will impact divorce cases going forward. This law eliminated the tax deduction for spousal support in divorces finalized on or after that date. The effects of this change to the law are still being felt, and many long-term results have yet to be seen. In many cases, it has required people on both sides of a divorce involving spousal maintenance to be more savvy and resourceful when it comes to reaching a settlement.
How Has the New Law Affected Taxes on Spousal Maintenance?
For many years, maintenance (which is also referred to as spousal support or alimony) was taxed as follows:
- The spouse paying maintenance would be able to deduct the amount of support payments from his or her taxable income.