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Who Can Handle My Explosive Divorce?
If you are at each other’s throats like cats and dogs, chances are your divorce will be difficult, to say the least. Fuming over a betrayal or your soon-to-be ex threatening to take the kids can set the stage for an all-out war. Davi Law Group can help you temper your emotions by focusing on the legal process of your high-conflict divorce.
Deciding to end your marriage is never easy but sometimes it is the only solution. The current divorce rate in the United States is 2.3 per 1,000 people. The reason for your divorce often foreshadows whether or not you can negotiate in good faith or if it will be a contentious divorce. Do you feel like you are going down an abyss of repetitive arguments instead of dealing with the legal issues of your divorce? If this is your situation, you need an experienced Illinois attorney who knows how to handle the stresses of a high-conflict divorce.
High-Conflict Divorce
These divorces should be handled delicately to move the proceeding along and reach a solution as promptly as possible. It is often advised that you only communicate with your spouse through your attorney. You do not have to respond to abusive phone calls or aggressive emails and texts from your spouse. The best course here is to save this as evidence as you work on building your case with your attorney’s help. In severe circumstances, we can petition for a restraining order or limit the ways your spouse can communicate with you.
Do I Still Have to Pay Child Support if I Lost My Job?
So you lost your job and feel like the rug has been pulled from underneath you. How are you going to make your next child support payment? It can be a terrifying situation. Especially because being unemployed does not absolve you from this obligation. If you need help with a child support matter to ensure your child is taken care of in the least disruptive way possible, there are some options.
Payment is Not Negotiable
The amount and length of child support are not negotiable between you and your ex-spouse. If you have no income, you are still legally responsible for contributing financially to your children’s food, shelter, clothing, health, and education.
Child support payments in Illinois are determined by combining the monthly net incomes of both parents and splitting the child support obligation into two parts for each parent that depend on the parent’s income and time with the children. The state also considers the number of children, their needs, and the lifestyle they would have had, living with two parents.
Looking After a Child’s Mental Health During Divorce
Much as divorce can become a source of emotional turmoil for parents, so can it for children of any age. From toddlers to teenagers, divorce can have an enormous impact on children’s mental health, as the split likely represents the most significant life change they have ever experienced. As a parent, taking care of your child’s mental health during your divorce - in addition to looking after your own - is of the highest importance. Children, particularly older children, are likely to hold their own opinion about what parenting time arrangements would be ideal. Some children would wish to live exclusively with one parent, seeing the disfavored parent as responsible for the divorce. Children often feel powerless during divorce, even making futile efforts to keep the marriage going. If you are going through a divorce, prioritizing your child’s emotional needs without putting them in charge can be challenging.
Tips for Meeting Children’s Emotional Needs During Divorce
Methods for Dividing a Small Company During Divorce
The equitable division of marital property during the divorce process is a frequent source of conflict. Virtually all married couples own some joint property. Even those who have largely kept their finances separate are likely to jointly own home furnishings, vehicles, or funds contained in a retirement account. When your spouse’s financial interests and your own are inextricably intertwined due to the addition of a shared business venture as part of your marital estate, it is critical that the business be divided in a manner that is equitable to both parties. Such a division can be difficult to accomplish without causing significant harm to the business itself. If your goal is to keep the company open, you will need to work with your attorneys to devise a strategy. You may have multiple options in this regard. An attorney can help you review your potential options.
Ways to Divide a Shared Business in Divorce
There are numerous strategies for ending a marriage without sabotaging a joint business venture. Even if you and your spouse have decided not to prioritize the continued operation of the business, you still must divide the value of the company in an equitable fashion. Potential strategies may include:
3 Important Tips for Homemakers Getting Divorced
When you are a homemaker, your entire life revolves around your family. Rather than continuing on a career path, you have devoted yourself to the work it takes to run a household. If you have children, you are likely their primary caregiver on top of being the family cook, housekeeper, shopper, and much more. However, this vitally important work goes unpaid, which can make the prospect of getting divorced frightening for many stay-home parents and homemakers.
If you are getting divorced, you may have concerns over how you will continue to meet your financial needs and your children’s needs at the same time. Financial concerns like alimony payments or child support are likely to be high priorities so that you can maintain financial security while adjusting to single life. Our attorneys will work with you to learn your specific needs so that we can best serve you and guard your interests throughout the divorce process.
Can I Modify My Original Divorce Decree?
Your divorce decree is generally considered a very final document. When the court issues the decree, your marriage officially terminates, and the decree reflects either the agreements you made or the decisions the court made. At the time, the terms in your decree may have been practical and reasonable. However, things can change over time. Your or your ex’s financial situation may have changed drastically. The needs of your children can change and evolve over time. Divorced parents may become different people over time. A number of circumstances in your lives can change and render your divorce decree impracticable and unreasonable. In some cases, you may be able to petition the court to modify your divorce decree to reflect the present reality. To do this, you will need a knowledgeable family law attorney.
What Are the Grounds for Modifying a Divorce Decree?
Divorce decree modifications are possible, but not always easy. Generally, they are used when a drastic change in your personal situation has occurred. You may be able to seek a modification if one of the following circumstances is present in your case:
How do I Get an Illinois Restraining Order Against My Spouse?
No one should have to experience domestic violence. There is never any excuse for your spouse to hit you, push you, or inflict any other type of violence on you. If you have experienced abuse at the hands of your spouse, you may be able to obtain a protection order. A protection order, or restraining order, is an official court order that requires your spouse to stay away from you and refrain from contacting, harassing, abusing, or intimidating you or your children. The process for getting one of these orders is typically completed in just two manageable steps. While you could seek one of these orders alone, it is highly advisable to be represented by an attorney. Your case could go to trial, where you would want to be represented by a lawyer who understands the rules of Illinois courts.
Step One - The Ex Parte Hearing
When you arrive at the courthouse to file for a protection order, you will need to start by filling out some paperwork explaining why you need a protection order. You will be asked to provide a brief written statement alleging the acts of domestic violence that led you to seek out this order.
4 Wild Divorce Tactics a Toxic Spouse Might Try
If you were in a toxic marriage, you probably know that divorce is perhaps the only way to take your life back fully. Whether your spouse was manipulative, narcissistic, or outright abusive, you are done with it and ready to move on without them. Fortunately, your spouse absolutely does not have the power to prevent you from divorcing them. No matter what they try, you can ultimately get your divorce finalized whether they like it or not. There are, however, a few tactics they might try. Some of these tactics are meant to delay the inevitable. Others are merely an attempt to make you look bad through dishonesty.
Your toxic spouse may, of course, try other dirty tactics that are meant to rob you of your fair share of any marital property. If this is the type of behavior you expect from your spouse, then it is extremely important for you to have strong and aggressive legal representation.
Dishonest Divorce Tricks to Look Out For
How do I Get Child Support if I Never Married the Other Parent?
Child support is often, but not always, decided during a divorce. When children are born into a marriage, both spouses are presumed to be the child’s parents. In Illinois, this is true even if it is biologically impossible - a child born to a woman who is married to another woman has two legal mothers right off the bat. If this couple were to divorce, one mother would likely be ordered to pay the other child support. However, couples who are not married and their children enjoy no such legal protections. If you were never married to your child’s other parent and you need to start receiving financial support for your child, the first step is to ensure that your child’s other biological parent is also their legal parent. Most commonly, this means that a mother will need to prove who her child’s father is - very rarely is there any confusion about who a child’s biological mother is. From there, you can petition the court for child support.
A Quick Guide to Illinois' Child Custody Terminology
If this is your first time being involved in a child custody case, a lot of things might feel very unfamiliar. You are probably not used to needing a court order to tell you which parent should have the child with them and when. You may be paying or receiving child support for the first time. The entire process of deciding issues related to child custody and child support can be complex. Some of the terminology used can also feel unfamiliar and confusing when you are not used to it. Illinois changed the way courts and lawyers talk about child custody to reframe important issues. This quick guide should help you understand what is being discussed at all times. An attorney can also help you keep track of everything going on in your custody case.
Terms You Should Know and What They Mean
You may not even see the term “child custody” used. You will not find the term in the Dissolution of Marriage Act at all. Instead, we use the terms “parenting time” and “parental responsibility.” Some key terms you should know include:
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