Recent Blog Posts
Divorce and Your Illinois Marital Home: Your Two Options Under State Law
Aside from the direct impact of divorce on your children and the emotional toll on your psyche, perhaps one of the most important questions that requires your immediate attention is, "What do we do about the house"?
If you reside in Illinois, the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5), states that there should be equitable distribution of all marital property in a divorce. Marital property covers everything from the marital home, finances, vehicles and recreational toys down to all household content acquired during the marriage. Although the decision regarding the family home may prove the most difficult.
Your divorce attorney will review your overall situation, including all variables playing into the decision over the home. Depending on your family needs, you and your spouse may decide that you will remain in the marital home with the children, but you will need to order an appraisal to determine your buy out cost to satisfy your spouse’s interest in the home. If on the other hand, you are open to placing the home on the market and once sold, you will be able to equally split the proceeds with your spouse.
Study Reveals Kids’ Interpersonal Skills and Math Scores Affected by Divorce
According to a study conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, children whose parents are divorced may suffer from low math test scores. The study also revealed that divorce may hamper the development of interpersonal skills in children, as well as cause children to struggle with low self-esteem, sadness, loneliness and anxiety.
The results of the study indicate that children do not suffer with these issues before their parents’ divorce, despite what the home situation is. These problems tend to appear after the breakup has already occurred.
Author of the study, Hyun Sik Kim, studied data provided by the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study. The study tracked 3600 students from kindergarten through fifth grade, beginning in 2008.
Tips on Avoiding Financial Mistakes During a Divorce
Although going through a divorce can be a very emotional time, it’s important to keep divorce finances in mind in order to protect both your future and your children’s future. Financial analyst Suzanna de Baca offers these financial tips for people who are going through a divorce:
Do not give too much away in the divorce settlement.
Negotiating with your spouse over property and assets can turn acrimonious. The constant arguing and conflicts can be emotionally draining, causing many people to "surrender" and end up walking away with less than an equitable amount – just to stop the fighting. It’s important to protect your financial future, so de Baca suggest working with both your attorney and a financial planner to ensure you receive a settlement that is in your best interest.
New Trends in Adoption: For All the Right Reasons
According to a recent article by Joe DiDonato, Co-founder and Chairman of The Orphan Foundation, adoption is experiencing new found advancements driven by a completely new set of personal motivators. No longer does the word "adoption" equate to couples experiencing infertility or solidifying the blended step family. What the Foundation found by implementing a grant program shows a totally different aspect of the adoption process.
With the acceptance of grant proposals by the Foundation, what the Board has found is that adoption is now geared toward helping children worldwide, often those with special needs releasing the stereotypical notion of why families turn to adoption.
Listed below are two examples of the first three proposals submitted to the Foundation for grant consideration.
Changing Views on Adultery and Divorce: Are We Ready?
Has the time come to change our western views on adultery and marriage? According to a recent article published by The Huffington Post, perhaps it has. No longer does the act of adultery result in the offending spouse strolling through town with a scarlet letter sewn to her bodice or does the adulterous male receive a good flogging but are we truly ready to alter our thought process when it comes to marital deception?
Being married is highly vital to secure one's social status in Eastern culture. Love is not necessarily part of the marital equation, especially when there is a booming adultery inspired industry. In some eastern cultures, marriage is viewed as vehicle to secure your social standing. Without this collaboration, you could experience difficulty with obtaining employment and the opportunity of climbing both the social and corporate ladder. Clearly a different viewpoint from traditional Western culture.
What Parents Should Share with Children During a Divorce
No matter what age children are, divorce can cause them to experience a wide-range of emotions and fears about what will happen to them. Feelings of anger, confusion, sadness and guilt can weigh heavily as a child watches his family fall apart.
Parents can help transition children and ease the impact divorce can have. Here are steps that family counselors recommend parents share with their children:
- One of the most important things to stress to children is that the divorce is not their fault. Many children think that it is something lacking in them that causes their parents to argue and think if only they were better at school, better in sports, better behaved, etc. It’s also important for children to know that isn’t their responsibility to "fix" the marriage. Details of issues between the parents should not be shared with the children.
Stopping Spousal Support Payments
Under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, an ex-spouse may be entitled to spousal support. Under section 504 of the law, it states, ". . . the court may grant a temporary or permanent maintenance award for either spouse in amounts and for periods of time as the court deems just, without regard to marital misconduct, in gross or for fixed or indefinite periods of time. . ."
There are several factors a judge looks at in deciding whether or not to grant spousal support. Some of the criteria include the following:
- The length of the marriage;
- The present and future earning capacity of the spouses;
- The standard of living the parties had while married;
- The length of time it will take for the spouse seeking spousal support to obtain training and establish themselves professionally; and
- Any prior agreement the couple may have had.
How to Agree to Disagree with Your Ex’s Parenting Style
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Can’t Agree on Property Division? Consider a Divorce Yard Sale
One of the most acrimonious parts of a divorce can be the negotiations regarding how the marital assets are going to be divided. Even the friendliest of divorces can suddenly turn nasty over a piece of who is going to get a certain piece of furniture, book collection, paintings, etc.
Locally, Craigslist.com allows you to list the items you have for sale online and determine cost and delivery/pickup method. It’s similar to having an online yard sale by putting you in touch with people who may be interested in your property.
Half of Internationally Adopted Children Born in Asia
Deciding to adopt a child is an intensely personal decision. In some cases, parents attempt to adopt a child from within the United States, preferring a child who is culturally similar to themselves. A newly released census report shows this is not always the case, however.
According to USA Today, two percent of the 64.8 million children in the United States are adopted. Of those, thirteen percent were adopted from foreign countries, mostly within Asia. Interestingly, the rate of international adoptions increased by 12 percent from 2000 to 2010, and 28 percent of all adopted children were adopted by a family whose race was different from their own. In fact, 37 percent of children whose adoptive families were of a different ethnicity were born outside of the U.S. The article states that there has long been an interest in international adoptions in the United States, particularly by wealthier families. In fact, foreign-born adopted children were found to be more likely to live in households with incomes at or above $100,000/yr when compared to to U.S.-born adoptees. Pediatrician Jane Aronson told USA Today that this may be because families with higher incomes are more inclined to help children from poorer countries. This may also be due, in part, to the expense associated with international adoptions. Naturally, adopting a stepchild or a child who was born and currently resides in the U.S. will cost less than adopting a child from a foreign country. The travel expenses alone make international adoptions prohibitive for less wealthy families. Whether international or domestic, adoption can be a difficult and at times confusing process. It is always best in these situations to have a qualified family law attorney on your side to help you through the process. If you are hoping to adopt a child in Illinois, contact A. Traub & Associates today for a consultation. They can ensure that your adoption proceeds as smoothly as possible so that you and your new child can begin building memories as soon as possible.
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