Grandparents hold a special place in their grandchildren's lives. Their presence often offers love, support, and guidance, which helps to create a strong family bond.

In Illinois, grandparents do have the right to seek visitation with their grandchildren. However, the law does not guarantee grandparents visitation rights. Grandparents must first prove to the court that visitation is in the child’s best interests.

Speaking with a family law attorney is a great step toward handling concerns regarding grandparent visitation rights.

If you believe that you are not the child’s biological father, you may be able to challenge paternity in DuPage County. Paternity is the legal relationship between a father and his child. When paternity is established, the father has certain legal rights and responsibilities to the child, such as the right to child support and visitation.

There are two ways to challenge paternity in DuPage County:

• You can file a petition to deny paternity. This is a legal document that you file with the court. In your petition, you will need to state your reasons for challenging paternity. You may also need to provide evidence to support your claims.

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You should be aware of the common types of hidden assets that your spouse may be trying to hide from you when going through a divorce. Hidden assets are assets that your spouse either does not disclose to you or that they intentionally keep secret from you.

Bank Accounts

One of the most common types of hidden assets is a secret bank account opened in your spouse's name or in the name of a fictitious person. They may also have made large deposits into the account in cash or by writing checks from another account that you do not know about.

Investments and Business Interests

Another commonly hidden asset is investing in stocks, bonds, or other securities that your spouse has not disclosed to you. They might have transferred assets into a trust or other entity that you do not know about. If your spouse owns a business, they may be trying to hide assets from you by transferring them to the business or by undervaluing the business.

The state of Illinois now only recognizes one ground for divorce - irreconcilable differences. Rather than needing to prove that your spouse has engaged in wrongdoing, you now simply need to show that you and your spouse have differences that cannot be reconciled. In most cases, the court will simply believe you and your spouse when you state that you have irreconcilable differences and you will not need to offer proof so long as you are in agreement. However, if your spouse decides to contest the divorce, you may need to offer some type of evidence or testimony suggesting that you are not able to reconcile and return to a happy marriage. Even in cases of contested divorce, courts rarely perform an in-depth inquiry into the breakdown of the marriage. Most spouses who try to prevent a divorce by seeking to show a possibility of reconciliation rarely if ever succeed, but may be able to delay your case. If you are concerned that your spouse may choose this course of action, you should begin speaking to an attorney as soon as possible. 

Defining Irreconcilable Differences 

“Irreconcilable differences” describes an incredibly broad spectrum of reasons for divorce. One spouse filing for divorce may be unprepared to reconcile after an affair, while another set of spouses may have simply become two different people and found that they are not happy anymore. 

The statute pertaining to irreconcilable differences states a few elements that should be shown to support a finding of irreconcilable differences. It is important to note that the term “irreconcilable differences” itself has little in the way of a specific legal definition, but is rather intentionally left rather broad. Every married couple has a different standard relating to differences between the spouses that they are or are not willing to tolerate. 

A majority of people who get divorced today use strategies like divorce mediation and attorney-facilitated negotiation to settle their divorces. Only a minority of divorce cases are now litigated. One of the earliest decisions you will need to make during the divorce process is whether you would like to try alternative dispute resolution or proceed directly to litigation. In most cases, resolving your divorce issues outside of court is faster and less costly. However, it only works if both parties are willing and able to participate in good faith. While you do not need to be amicable to succeed in mediation, mediation may not be an effective strategy if there is a very high degree of conflict in your case. You likely know your situation better than anyone else and may be in the best position to determine whether alternative dispute resolution is likely to be worth trying. An attorney can help you determine whether your case is one that may need to be litigated. 

Who Should Consider Alternative Dispute Resolution? 

Most spouses should consider using mediation or attorney-facilitated negotiation. Even if you are not on the best of terms, divorce mediators are experienced in keeping communication productive. You do not even need to be in the same room as your spouse in some types of divorce mediation. However, both you and your spouse must be willing to work with each other and behave in a fair and reasonable manner. 

You may also find that mediation can be good for parents who will need to continue co-parenting after the divorce. Mediation can protect the children from the conflict involved in the divorce.