Posted on November 29, 2019 in Divorce

One of the biggest expenses of the modern era is your health insurance coverage. Naturally, if you're on your spouse's employer-provided insurance, you're concerned about what will happen if you end up divorced.

You may be able to stay on your ex-spouse's insurance after divorce, at least for a while — although your ex-spouse will not be responsible for your premium. The Illinois Spousal Continuation Coverage law says that if you are under 55 years of age, you may be entitled to remain covered for two full years after your divorce. If you are over 55 years of age, you may be entitled to coverage until you become eligible for Medicare.

Once your divorce is final, you'll have 30 days to notify your spouse's employer that you are electing to continue your coverage. Your spouse's employer is required to notify the insurance company, which will then forward you the appropriate form for completion. You must return the form within 30 days of its receipt.

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 Posted on November 23, 2019 in Child Custody

Your marital relationship is over. You and your future former spouse may agree on this point and that you don't want your children to suffer unnecessarily because of it. For this reason, you and the other parent make the choice to try to work out your custody agreement and parenting plan without going to court.

After all, you have heard numerous times that avoiding a contentious custody battle is better for your children — and you. So, you embark on a quest to resolve these issues through mediation. However, as you get into it, your gut tells you that something isn't right.

Should you listen to your gut?

Perhaps you think this is normal and that you are just having a more difficult time than other parents in your place did when they went through mediation. You may be right, but you may also need to listen to your gut. If you experience the following during the process, it may not be working for you:

• You end up discussing or arguing about issues unrelated to the children.

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 Posted on November 21, 2019 in Divorce

The financial ramifications of a divorce are often complicated. You and your spouse have to go through what can seem like an agonizingly slow process of breaking apart all your financial ties together. You need separate bank accounts, credit cards and eventually separate places to live.

But what about insurance? If you've been covered on your spouse's employer-based insurance, here's what you need to know:

Once the divorce is filed:

Generally speaking, a judge will issue temporary orders that are mostly designed to preserve the "status quo" in the marriage until the divorce is final. This will usually keep your spouse from making any changes to your health insurance until the divorce is final.

Most of the time, it's not easy to simply drop a spouse off of an insurance plan except during the annual "open season" period and when there has been a change in your circumstances. Until your divorce is final, that change hasn't occurred.

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 Posted on November 12, 2019 in Child Custody

Driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol is a serious problem for anybody — but the consequences of a charge or conviction for folks going through a custody battle can be especially dire.

In fact, as tempting as it might be to throw caution to the wind and blow off some steam during a pub crawl with your best friends during your divorce, you really can't afford to make the kind of mistake that ends in criminal charges. Here's why:

1. Criminal cases are expensive

More than likely, you'll have to turn to a separate lawyer to handle your criminal case — which is an expense no one going through a custody battle needs. If you are lucky enough to have one attorney who can handle the job, there's still all the extra court fees.

2. You could lose your job

Depending on your profession, a drunk driving conviction could cost you your job. That could make it increasingly complicated for you to pay child support, manage your legal bills, fight for custody and start over. The pressure to find a new job won't be easy, either, with a conviction hanging over your head, and it won't be easy to claim you can support the kids without a job.

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 Posted on November 05, 2019 in Family Law

Stalking, threats and acts of violence can start out of nowhere and happen to anyone. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 14 out of every 1,000 adults will experience some form of stalking every year. Three-quarters of all stalking victims know their tormentor in some way or another.

If you're being harassed, threatened with violence or outright stalked by someone, you may need either an order of protection or a stalking no-contact order. While similar in function, there are some distinct differences between the two.

What's an order of protection?

In Illinois, an order of protection is only used to restrict the actions of a family or household member who has interfered with your personal liberty in some way, harassed you, threatened you or physically hit you. The law defines "family and household members" as:

• Anybody blood-related
• Married couples
• Divorced couples
• Parents of a child in common, regardless of their relationship to each other

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 Posted on October 31, 2019 in Child Custody

Divorce can be rough — particularly if you're a parent. You know that the end of your marriage is going to affect your children as much as it affects you.

The more conscious you are of the emotional impact of your divorce on the kids, the easier it will be to develop strategies that you can use to reassure them. Here are the common problems divorced parents encounter by age:

Toddlers

Your youngest children may be the most confused by all the changes going on in your world. Some likely won't understand the permanence of the new situation. Others may worry that you or their other parent will one day "stop loving" them and disappear.

They need plenty of reassurance that both of their parents will always love them.

Grade-schoolers

Children this age sometimes blame themselves for their parents' divorce. They may also think that they can somehow fix what went wrong in your relationship with your ex.

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 Posted on October 25, 2019 in Divorce

A lot of clients want to know if they can date even though their divorce isn't final. It's human nature to want to reach out to other people and find a lifelong companion, so the desire to find someone new when your old relationship is clearly over is certainly understandable.

As the saying goes, you certainly can date while you're getting a divorce, but should you? Frankly, you're better off waiting. Here's why:

Legal complications can abound

Illinois is one of the few states that still has a statute in force that makes adultery a crime — so prosecution is possible (albeit rare). You could face a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

In addition, if you spend any joint money celebrating your new love, you may be accused of the dissipation of marital assets — or "wasting" money that's partially your spouse's on someone else. You could be required to pay that money back to your spouse in the split, especially if it is a significant amount.

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 Posted on October 15, 2019 in Divorce

Do you want a reasonably peaceful divorce? It is possible to have — but only if you take care to avoid certain critical blunders.

Knowledge is power. If you recognize the mistakes that you're making (or about to make), you can take steps to avert a disaster. Do any of these common mistakes sound familiar to you?

1. You're incorrectly relying on a marital agreement

Prenuptial and post-nuptial agreements are handy tools that can help solve disputes — but they aren't always properly done. Before you rely too concretely on your marital agreement, make sure that you have an attorney review it for validity.

2. You're letting anger gain a foothold over your actions

Once you've decided to get a divorce, the time for anger is really over. Now, you need to compartmentalize your feelings for a while and focus on the practical aspects of your divorce. Find an outlet for your anger in your hobbies, your friends or your therapist — but keep your conversation with your spouse civil at all times. Effective communication is clear and calm.

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 Posted on October 11, 2019 in Child Custody

When you're a parent of young children, a divorce means an uneasy transition to shared parenting. This often means splitting holidays and other special events — or sharing them.

If you're feeling a little stressed about the situation as you approach Halloween, can you imagine how your children may feel? They are looking forward to the holiday, and they really want both of their parents to celebrate with them. This can be easier than you expect it to be as long as you and your ex-spouse are willing to cooperate a little.

Here are several ways to handle the situation that could make everyone happy:

1. Split the festivities

If your children are going to more than one Halloween event, you and your ex-spouse can split the festivities between you. This works best when the trick-or-treat times in your neighborhood and your ex-spouse's neighborhood are different. (The kids may particularly love this solution because it equals twice the candy and twice the fun!)

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 Posted on October 04, 2019 in Family Law

When your girlfriend announced that she was pregnant, you were thrilled. You anxiously awaited your child's birth, and you've been there every step of the pregnancy. Now that your child is actually here, you're an active and involved parent. The only problem is that, for one reason or another, your name isn't on the birth certificate as the child's father.

So, why bother establishing your paternity? If you're supporting your child and everything seems fine, is there any point in going to the trouble?

Absolutely.

Unmarried parents are hardly uncommon in the modern United States. It's estimated that one-third of the country's children are living with a single parent.

Unfortunately for you, there's no guarantee that your relationship with your girlfriend will last. You could easily find yourself "pushed out" of your little family if your romance fades, and your current girlfriend finds another partner or marries.

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