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Adoption is a beautiful process in which couples that are having difficulty conceiving their own children can experience raising a child. It is a process that can also be difficult based on the emotions of birthparents and other mitigating factors. On December 28th, Russian President Vladimir Putin made it more difficult for American parents looking to adopt orphans from Russia. This new legislation is expected to have far-reaching circumstances in the United States. Last year, almost one thousand Russian orphans were adopted by American families. While the number has been dropping over the last few years Russia is the third most popular country for Americans to adopt from, behind China and Ethiopia. According to UNICEF, Russia has over 700,000 abandoned children searching for good homes. The law was seen to be a form of retaliation against a law which was signed by Barack Obama on December 14th 2012. That bill was called the Magnitsky Act which was named after a Russian lawyer who exposed the largest tax fraud perpetrated in the history of Russia. It’s America’s attempt to restrict travel and finances for people who are human rights abusers from Russia. While certain families are experiencing the heartbreak of losing their Russian children, there are still kids who need loving homes. If you and your family are considering adopting an addition to your household, then it is important to have the direction of a legal professional. Contact an experienced family law attorney in Wheaton who can assist you with this exciting time in your life.
Taneil Curtis was visiting with one of her children on November 7th. The visit was supervised by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services at a McDonald’s in South Holland. During the visit, Curtis asked the case officer for permission to get a glass of water with her son. That was when she made a daring escape while kidnapping her 21-month-old son. She darted out of the restaurant and into a waiting U-Haul rental truck. After the police were alerted and the investigation began, they found the U-Haul truck abandoned near South Holland. They determined that Kirk Alexander, the boyfriend of Curtis, rented the vehicle. After more than a month of trying to find Curtis, the authorities located her in Memphis, Tennessee. Fortunately, her 21 month-old was also safely found. This is not the first issue that Curtis had with custody of her children. DCFS had taken her custody rights to her three older children due to substantial risk of physical harm. "This is a woman who's having all of her parental rights taken away on all of her other children, for God knows what reasons. She has active warrants out for her arrest. She tries to run over a case worker. The possibilities were limitless on how horrible this thing could have turned out," Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said of 32-year-old Taneil Curtis. When you plan to divorce, it is important to identify the reasons why a spouse may be unfit for custody. If your spouse has partial custody of your children, it is important to keep them from relocating with your children. Contact an experienced family law attorney in DuPage County who can be your advocate in custody issues.
It is very common for families to delay taking steps of separation slower, or stopping them completely, until after the holiday season is over. For many couples, separation includes worrying about their children being affected by the family breaking apart.
The first few steps are the hardest to take, and many couples hope that time together with their family will provide an opportunity to rethink such big decisions.
Adding to the stress of separation, is the overspending of the season that most people surrender to every year. Financial realities get set aside for a few months. Come January, credit card statements will resurface and the tensions and worries, for those already confused as to how to restructure financially if they separate, resurface as well. Some ideas to take into consideration over the holidays to prepare for the separation include:
A Los Angeles judge recently determined that teen actress Ariel Winter should remain in her sister’s care and not return to her mother’s custody. The 14-year-old “Modern Family” star will remain with her sister for several more weeks. The ruling was decided upon by Superior Court Judge Michael Levanas considered a report by child protective investigators involving Winter’s mother, Chrisoula Workman. Investigators found evidence of emotional abuse toward Winter, according to Levanas. The agency planned to step in and take action of its own if Winter did not remain with a guardian. This court ruling came more than six weeks after allegations were made towards Workman of physical and emotional abuse of Winter and she was temporarily stripped of custody. Although Levanas said the investigators’ report found that the claims of physical abuse were inconclusive, an attorney for Winter’s sister claimed that they could be proven in an additional report. December 12 has been the date set by the judge to decide whether Winter should be placed into a permanent guardianship. Winter has been cared for by her sister, Shanelle Gray, since early October. Levanas says that he will work towards keeping the family together if the case remains in his courtroom. It is possible that the Department of Children and Family Services could choose to file a case of its own and remove it from Levanas’s jurisdiction. Workman has denied all accusations of abuse towards her daughter. Winter’s father, Glenn Workman, also filed an objection to the guardianship saying that he is willing to care for her, stating that he wants a better relationship with her. Judge Levanas says that Glenn Workman’s statement, however, conflicts with a report that he gave to investigators, and he cannot receive custody of Winters. Both parents agree that they just want Ariel Winters to return home and her sister is not a suitable guardian. If your family seems to be tearing apart like this unfortunate case, contact a family law attorney in Illinois today. The Davi Law Group can help you keep your family together, contact them today.
Non-payment of child support can have far-reaching consequences that a lot of non-custodial parents sometimes fail to think about when they stop making the court-ordered payments. Court ordered civil penalties can be exposed, and in severe cases, even incarceration. In Illinois, some other consequences include driver license or other professional business license suspension, assets seized, withholding of income tax refunds and lottery winnings and derogatory credit rating report. One other consequence that may also arise is public perception and reputation, especially if the person who owes the child support holds political office. The issue of non-payment of child support was one that was raised in the recent election for the U.S. House of Representative for Illinois, 8th Congressional District seat. Current Rep. Joe Wash was running for re-election against challenger Tammy Duckworth. In September 2011, Walsh’s ex-wife filed motions against him in court for back-child support. According to a report in the Chicago Sun Times, the congressman owed over $100,000 in back support for his three children. The couple finally reached a settlement in April 2012, but no details of the settlement were released. Duckworth raised the issue in the recent campaign, including releasing an ad that referred to Walsh as a “deadbeat dad”, shining a spotlight on the issue that hadn’t been in the media since April. It was a reminder that Walsh had not paid child support for years, claiming to be broke, yet had given his own re-election campaign $35,000. Duckworth received the endorsement of Chicago’s major newspapers and she won the election. Since filing for divorce in 2002, Walsh’s ex-wife had gone to court over and over again seeking the court-ordered child support payments her husband never paid. After years of only making partial payments, he stopped making any payments at all in 2008. If your children’s parent is not making court-ordered child support payments and has fallen in arrears, contact an Illinois family law attorney today.
People cite many different reasons for divorce. These reasons may include everything from infidelity, abandonment and even irreconcilable differences. However, a British woman may have one of the most unique reasons for seeking a divorce from her husband of several years. The 41 year old woman stated that her husband has a boring attitude toward sex and therefore serves as evidence of unreasonable behavior on his part. All of this came about after she read the book “Fifty Shades of Grey”. The woman states that she felt that her sex life was at a standstill so she did different things to try to get her husband interested. She did things such as buying lingerie to get his attention. Her latest request to him was that she would like to recreate some of the scenes that were written about in the aforementioned book. He refused and she is now seeking a divorce. She also stated that she had bought the books in a final effort to rekindle the fire between her and her husband. The husband is allegedly admitting to this unreasonable behavior so that a long divorce proceeding that can potential air all of the details of their sex life can be avoided. Filing for divorce can be embarrassing and even life changing, no matter what the situation or grounds for divorce happens to be. People have many different reasons for seeking the dissolution of the vows that were previously taken. If you find yourself in this type of situation, it is important to have an attorney there to represent your rights and interests. You may think that you do not need to retain an attorney in the case of an uncontested divorce, but this is not the case. An experienced Illinois divorce attorney will be able to evaluate your case and make sure that you get the fairest settlement possible.
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