blog home archives April, 2014 - Chicago Illinois Family Law Blog

April, 2014 - Chicago Illinois Family Law Blog Archive

Married Gay Couples Can be Covered Under Family Health Plans

By Jeffrey Knipmeyer on April 14, 2014

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced that married gay couples will be eligible to enroll in family health coverage under The Affordable Care Act. Although mandatory compliance does not kick in until 2015, the government is encouraging insurers to begin voluntarily offering family plans to married same-sex couples under the Public Health Service Act this year.

This is important news for same-sex couples in Illinois who are now legally eligible to marry.

HHS deemed that it would be discriminatory for health insurers to offer family health coverage to opposite-sex couples, but not to same-sex couples. The government department has jurisdiction when it comes to preventing insurance discrimination practices in the market.

Read more…

Posted in: Marriage Rights

Divorce and Obamacare: Are They Linked?

By Leslie Fineberg on April 10, 2014

Chicago Divorce LawyersThe open enrollment period to sign up for healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has passed and millions of Americans were able to sign up before the deadline. Notable provisions in the ACA provide tax credits to subsidize premiums if you are married and filing jointly on your taxes.

But what if your spouse left, you do not know where he or she is, and you have been filing your taxes as “married but filing separately,” on your return because you are not officially divorced?

Under well-defined criteria, if you have children you are caring for, you can file as “head of household” and still receive the tax credits. But if you have no children and are still legally married, you may simply be out of luck when it comes to receiving tax credits under Obamacare.

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Posted in: Divorce

The Importance of Establishing Paternity

By Leslie Fineberg on April 8, 2014

Establishing paternity is important for establishing a legal relationship between a father and a child. In Illinois, if a child is born to a couple that is married, it is presumed that the husband is the legal parent of the child.

If a couple is unmarried at the time of a birth, then the father is considered “the alleged father” and is not considered the legal father until certain steps are taken. His name cannot be added to the birth certificate until paternity is legally established.

In Illinois there are three ways to establish paternity:

  • Both parents complete, sign and have witnessed a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity (VAP) form;
  • The State of Illinois’ Department of Healthcare and Family Services enters an Administrative Paternity Order; or
  • A judge enters an Order of Paternity in court.

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Posted in: Paternity

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