Child Custody in Illinois: A Complete Guide for Parents
This guide covers the basics of child custody in Illinois, including how to file, enforcing and modifying agreements, and grandparents’ rights.
What to Consider When Filing for Divorce
From understanding the legal procedures to managing emotional well-being, you will find comprehensive guidance to help navigate this challenging life transition. The process of divorce is complex, involving multiple facets that require attention and careful deliberation. By addressing the legal, financial, and emotional aspects, individuals can better prepare for the challenges ahead. Our aim is […]
Children of Divorce: Navigating the Anger and Fear
Children of divorce often experience heightened anger and fear, especially when caught in the middle of parental conflicts. In complex divorce cases, children may feel like pawns or act out in various ways as they struggle with the situation. A knowledgeable family law attorney can help protect your relationship with your children, ensuring their needs are prioritized and the divorce process is as smooth as possible.
Financial Aid and Paying for Your Child’s College Tuition after Divorce
When parents go through a divorce, they often fail to consider the long-term financial aid implications, like paying for a child’s college tuition. Remarriage and other life changes can further complicate matters, making it difficult to know how to navigate the financial aid process or determine how much responsibility each parent may have in covering any remaining tuition expenses. Before you file, consider the following tips and strategies for effectively managing your child’s education.
Divorce Can Make You a Better Parent
Contrary to sometimes-popular belief, divorce can be good for children. If the marriage is especially explosive, it can be more detrimental to a child’s psyche than the dissolution of the union of his or her parents. When parents who are not in love—or who have an especially volatile relationship—“stay together for the kids,” it can often teach […]
Mediation Can Help the Divorce Process
Depending on how well you and your spouse get along, mediation could be a better option than a traditional divorce. Mediation is the process in which a couple that is separating works with a professional to come to an agreement on all aspects of the divorce, rather than in the court system. This makes the process more […]
Legal Recourse for Parental Alienation
Parental alienation is the systematic breakdown of a child’s relationship with one parent after a divorce. It most commonly occurs after a contested or particularly nasty divorce. One parent may harbor extremely negative or detrimental feelings of the other and wants their shared child or children to be on his or her “side.’ The most […]
A Relationship with Your Child’s Stepparent after Divorce
When going through a divorce, maintaining a healthy, congenial relationship can be greatly beneficial for all parties involved, especially for your children. This is particularly true if you decide to remarry, and a stepparent is introduced into your family. And although it may not be easy, it may prove beneficial in the long run. One Huffington Post […]
Coping with Anxiety over a Joint Custody Agreement
While shared or joint custody may seem like the best and most fair option for all parties involved after a divorce, it is not always easy. According to a personal story in The New York Times, learning how to deal with the separation from your child when it is the other parents’ turn to have custody can be […]
What is a “Bird’s Nest” Co-Parenting Agreement?
A co-parenting agreement is a structured plan that outlines how divorced or separated parents will raise their children together, ensuring stability and consistency in the child’s life.
What is Parental Alienation Syndrome?
About 75 percent of missing children were abducted by a noncustodial parent. These tragic incidents are extreme examples of Parental Alienation Syndrome, a condition which is very common in divided families. Also known as “parental brainwashing” and even “malicious mother syndrome,” Parental Alienation Syndrome or PAS affects about one in five children. It comes in many forms, and parents who are going […]
Divorced Parent Paying for College: Planning Ahead
Sorting through complicated financial issues is one major hurdle that many divorcees fear. There may be complex decisions to make regarding spousal support or alimony, the division of property, or issues of child support when applicable. Additionally, if you and your soon-to-be ex-spouse have children together, sorting out how you plan to pay for your […]
Staying in a Bad Marriage is More Damaging than Divorce
Going through a divorce is overwhelming. For some, life may seem like it is spiraling out of control. However, many unhappy marriages can be healed through therapy, couples counseling, or good old-fashioned hard work. In fact, according to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy(AAMFT), more than 50,000 family therapists and marriage counselors are working in the […]
Defining Parental Alienation After Divorce
With technology infiltrating every aspect of modern society and a tendency for people to choose screens over traditional interaction, the idea of social alienation is one oft-discussed by sociologists and psychologist alike. Yet one of the oldest—and arguably most effecting—types of alienation is one perpetuated not by societal trends, but the oldest relationship in history: […]
Are Courts Taking Away the Rights of Divorced Parents?
Divorced parents may be losing their rights, at least according to a recent opinion piece in The New York Times. Divorced parents can sue each other; however, married parents cannot. When this happens, judges are often left to determine what is best for the children of divorce—including where they will go to school and where they […]
Back-to-School Co-Parenting
If you are a parent, back-to-school time can be one of the most stressful and busiest of the year. There are new clothes to buy, supplies to shop for, schedules to sort, and busy student days to work into your workday. This can be all the more complicated if you are divorced and have decided […]
Advice for Co-Parenting after Divorce
Divorce is never easy. But sharing parenting duties after marital dissolution may be an even more difficult than the divorce itself. Not only does co-parenting after divorce force you to remain on good enough terms with your ex-spouse and successfully navigate shared schedules, duties, and responsibilities, it also means that you will likely have to see your ex-spouse […]
Advice for Divorced Dads
Being a divorced parent can be a difficult role for any adult. Not only does he or she have to deal with the fallout of the failure of marriage and partnership, divorced parents who are the non-custodial parent may also deal with the loss of regular contact with children. Illinois awards custody to whomever the court deems as the […]
The Basics of Post-Decree Modifications
After a divorce is finalized, some may feel stilted or left out in the cold. This could be the case when one party in the divorce is awarded an exorbitant or seemingly unfair settlement given the circumstances of the divorce. For example, if the wife is caught cheating and then all marital property is equally distributed—even though the […]