Chicago Illinois Family Law Blog
Gay Marriage: Both Sides in Debate See a Showdown Coming
Both sides on the same-sex marriage issue may disagree with each other on whether same-sex marriage should be legalized, but they seem to agree on one thing: the U.S. Supreme Court needs to settle the question.
With remarkable speed, state bans on same-sex marriage have been struck down by federal courts, and with the same remarkable speed many of those states have filed appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. Officials in Utah, Oklahoma and Virginia have appealed rulings against their states’ same-sex marriage bans. Just recently Indiana and Wisconsin filed appeals after a federal appeals court in Chicago ruled against their bans.
Business Valuation and Divorce
Often times when a petition for divorce has been filed, each spouse begins to circle the wagons to protect their individual futures and financial self-interests. This becomes a particularly sticky issue when one spouse owns a business. That person (still typically the husband) may try to hide as much of those business assets as possible to minimize their financial losses during a divorce.
Your spouse may report that his business is in trouble, but has his lifestyle changed? During the divorce, your spouse may come to court, hat in hand, claiming that his business has taken a hit of late; but is that true? Is he (or she) still living the same lifestyle despite those claims? If so, one has to ask, where is the money coming from?
Does your spouse’s business pay his personal expenses? If so, he may claim that he actually has “no income” because he isn’t accepting a paycheck. Also, if this is the case, it can appear that the business has taken a hit in both its net income and in its valuation.
Guardianship Versus Custody: What’s the Difference?
In some instances, when a parent cannot take care of a child, a person who is not the child’s parent can be granted legal guardianship of that child. While the duties and responsibilities of a guardian are, for all intents and purposes, the same as for a parent who has legal custody of a child, guardianship and custody are not the same in the eyes of the law.
Guardianship is much easier to attain and almost anyone can be appointed the guardian of a minor. While a guardian is usually a relative, he or she does not have to be related to the child.
Pet Custody – A Growing Problem in Divorce Cases
Anybody who owns pets knows that they are more than mere pieces of property; they are members of the family. That is why pet custody is becoming a growing — and frustrating — issue in divorce cases in Illinois and across the nation.
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune pointed out how contentious the battle for a pet can become.
How Friends Can Help During a Divorce
As anybody who has gone through a divorce can attest, it can be a difficult and challenging time, even in so-called amicable break-ups. As a friend of a person going through a divorce, you don’t quite know what to say. You want to be there for your friend and help, but you don’t want to say anything that might make the situation worse.
So, what do you do? An article in the Huffington Post suggests that saying or doing something is better than ignoring the situation and not saying anything. Here are some suggestions of things you might say and do for a friend going through a divorce.
- “You know I have your back.” Sometimes a friend going through a divorce just needs to know that you are on their side and you will be with them no matter what.
- “You’re not a bad person.” A lot of blame during a divorce can be self-directed and sometimes just hearing this is enough to get a friend through the day.
- “This sucks.” Yes, this may seem obvious and should go without saying, but sometimes a friend who is going through a divorce needs to hear that somebody else understands that.
Old Illinois Statute Could Complicate Same-Sex Marriages For Missouri Couples
With the passage of the Illinois Religious Freedom and Marriage Act (IRFMA), it seemed that Missouri same-sex couples seeking to become legally married in Illinois would just have to make a short trip across the Mississippi River to do so. However, it appears that an old statute in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution Act (IMDA) may throw a monkey wrench into the plans of Missouri same-sex couples who may be contemplating getting married in Illinois.
According to Section 217 of the IMDA, “No marriage shall be contracted in this state by a party residing and intending to continue to reside in another state or jurisdiction if such marriage would be void if contracted in such other state or jurisdiction and every marriage celebrated in this state in violation of this provision shall be null and void.”
Missouri voters passed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in 2004. Essentially, the provisions of Section 217 mean that the state of Illinois would have to void any same-sex marriages of Missouri couples performed in Illinois because it is not recognized in that state.
Stay-At-Home Parents Can Be Vulnerable: What You Should Know
The divorce attorneys at the law firm of Nottage and Ward in Chicago have run into this scenario all too often: a woman has decided to forgo a budding or successful career to stay at home, raise the children, and run the household. Suddenly, the marriage falls apart and she finds herself divorced and jobless with little or no prospects of gaining meaningful employment in the future.
Many think that family courts will protect them and that alimony payments will be commensurate with the monies they may have earned after giving up their careers. According to Forbes, many of these women are in for a shock. Often judges, including female judges who had to make sacrifices in their own family lives to pursue their careers, are not sympathetic to the Stay-At-Home-Mom (SAHM) plight.
These women (and, increasingly men) may assume that they will receive alimony covering full support, but with the advent of alimony reform laws in many states those expectations may simply be unrealistic. Permanent alimony is increasingly becoming a thing of the past. We are living in an age where “rehabilitative” or “temporary” alimony is becoming the norm. These alimony judgments only stay in place until the affected spouse gets back on his or her feet and can rejoin the workforce.
When Going Through a Divorce, Don’t Forget About the Kids
The family law attorneys at Nottage & Ward in Chicago recently ran across an article in the Huffington Post that was a powerful reminder that divorce is not only a traumatic and emotional experience for you, but also for your children. The author pointed out that it is important to remember that children are more sophisticated than we often give them credit for and are acutely aware of situations, events, and actions in divided families.
The author claims she has dealt with hundreds of families going through breakups and that these are just some of the things children wish they could tell their divorcing parents:
1. I didn’t get divorced, you did. Just because you are mad at my mom or dad, he or she is still my parent. Talking bad or gossiping about him or her makes me feel bad and makes me disrespect you.
Same-Sex Couple in Missouri Granted a Divorce
In a divorce case that may prove to be a shot across the bow to other states that do not recognize same-sex marriage, a judge in Missouri granted a married gay couple a divorce. What makes this case unusual is that Missouri passed a constitutional amendment in 2004 that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
The couple in question was married in Massachusetts in 2009, but lived in Columbia, Missouri. The Boone County Circuit judge who granted the divorce stated that under the legal doctrine of “comity” (the recognition of the laws of another jurisdiction), that Missouri could grant the divorce “for the limited purpose of granting equitable relief.”
The New “Modern Family” is Governed by “Un-Modern” Laws
There is plenty of talk nowadays about what makes a family unit. Whether based on religious beliefs or personal reasons, there are a variety of ideas as to what constitutes a family; a mom and a dad, two moms, two dads, or grandparents and children, the combinations are seemingly endless. So, what happens when your idea of a family is challenged by laws that don’t meet up to a more modern take on families?
More and more same sex couples are looking for ways to start their own family and have children. Biologically, this can prove to be a challenge, and typically, a third party needs to be brought in to make this dream a reality, either through adoption or artificial insemination. While it may not be uncommon for same sex couples to turn to the modern procedure of artificial insemination to start a family, the practice is still met with resistance by some not so modern laws.
If a lesbian couple wanted to be artificially inseminated and would prefer that the donor have no rights as a father in the child’s life, the couple could opt for an “anonymous donor” and the procedure would have to take place at a physician’s office. This may seem like a logical idea, but many couples would prefer to handle the procedure in the comfort and privacy of their own home. However, in several states, including Kansas and Illinois, the sperm donor is legally on the hook as the biological father when the insemination procedure is done at home.
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