Free Initial Consultations
630-580-6373With offices in Naperville, Joliet, Wheaton, Plainfield & Chicago
630-580-6373630-580-6373
Through a stepparent adoption, the natural child of one spouse becomes the legal child of the other spouse. Once a child is adopted, there are no legal differences between the natural children and children from another marriage. If you are considering adopting your stepchild, there are a few factors to consider to help your family through the process.
Consent is Key to Stepparent Adoption
A stepparent adoption is a form of related adoption. However, in this type of related adoption, the other parent must provide consent for the adoption. Sometimes, the other birth parent may agree that stepparent adoption is in the best interests of the child. In these cases, it may not be difficult to obtain consent. The adoption will be more complex if the child’s other biological parent does not provide consent.
It is possible to terminate the other biological parent’s rights and eliminate the need to obtain his or her consent. You may terminate the other parent’s rights if you can demonstrate that the parent is unfit. Under the Illinois Adoption Act, a parent can be found unfit if he or she:
Making decisions about child custody during a divorce can be difficult. Making these decisions is even more complex when domestic violence is involved. While an abusive relationship may be limited to the relationship between two adults, there is no way to know the effect domestic violence may have on your child.
As you begin to separate from an abusive spouse you may wonder how to limit the impact of abuse on your children. It is important that you understand how the court may address the abuse issue when making decisions regarding child visitation.
Will My Abusive Spouse be Given Visitation?
Under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act, courts presume that it is in the best interest of the child to not live in an abusive environment or have visitation with an abusive parent. If you are separating from a spouse who is abusive, one of your first steps will be to provide the court with any information related to the domestic violence (e.g. protective orders, police reports) so that the court knows about the abuse.
When a couple decides to divorce or separate, they have to figure out issues regarding their children. Of course, a child’s primary residency and child support payments are both critical issues. The dissolution of a marriage creates a new family dynamic for the parents and their child. These dynamics will continue to change over time. It is possible that the parent responsible for paying child support may need to request a modification to child support. As family dynamics change, parents should understand how a court will examine a request to modify a child support order.
Determining Child Support
When a divorce is finalized and a support order is appropriate, then a court will follow guidelines provided by Illinois law to determine how much child support a parent should pay. Typically, the non-custodial parent will pay support. The amount of support will be based on his or her net income, the number of children supported, and other factors the court finds relevant.
This fall, important aspects of Illinois family law will change. SB57 is Illinois' effort to change the way family law is practiced in Illinois.
Illinois law now rejects determinations of fault in divorce and seeks to remove the stigma of being a non-custodial parent. The new provisions accept the fact that marriages do not always work out and seeks to ensure that a child's needs are met.
Understanding these these changes will be critical for couples seeking divorce and creating custody agreements in the near future. It is important to consider these changes to Illinois family law that may affect you in the future:
Divorce Processes
Today, it is very common for children to live with grandparents, aunts, uncles, or even adult siblings. This often happens when a child’s biological parents are not present in his or her life. Most times, these circumstances start as a temporary option; however, they often grow into permanent arrangements. In situations like this, the biological parents maintain their parental right unless legal action is taken to gain custody of the child.
Establishing a Legal Arrangement as a Non-Parent
When a living arrangement moves from being temporary to permanent, a caretaker would be wise to begin to consider options for legalizing the relationship. Establishing a legal relationship will allow the caretaker to be able to provide health insurance, enroll the child in school, and have authority to make decisions for the child in the absence of a parent. Before moving forward to legalize the relationship, it is important to remember that the law strongly protects the rights of the biological parents. However, there are certain conditions under which a non-parent would be able to establish a permanent legal relationship with a child.
Prenuptial agreements, also known as prenups, constitute a special type of contract between prospective spouses. Prenups are different than other types of contracts, which are legal if there was a “meeting of the minds” when the contract was formed; specifically, prenups allow both parties to take a second look at the terms of the agreement. Yet what does this mean if you are considering signing a prenup? It means that your prenup has to be fair and reasonable at the time you need to use it—when you divorce. It is possible that at the time of enforcement a court could find an agreement to be invalid, even if the parties entered the agreement with full knowledge and consulted counsel. If you are divorcing and have a prenuptial agreement, it is important to consider the circumstances under which a court may find a prenuptial agreement invalid.
UPAA and Prenuptial Agreements in Illinois
Illinois’ Grandparent Visitation Act provides grandparents with a limited right to request visitation with their grandchild. Unlike visitation granted to a parent, the law makes it clear that grandparent visitation is a privilege, not a right.
Under the law, grandparents, great-grandparents, and siblings have the right to ask a court for visitation; however, the court may refuse visitation. Most times, grandparents receive less visitation than parents. For this reason, it worth trying to discuss visitation with the custodial parent. However, it may not always be possible to come to an agreement. If you are a grandparent considering a request for visitation, then it is important that you understand how the court will analyze your request.
Steps to Take When Pursuing Visitation
Adoption is a great opportunity for a family to expand. Adoption is a particularly great option for potential adoptive parents who are related to the child. Related adoption, or kinship adoption is one of the most common methods of adoption in Illinois. Illinois adoption law requires state-funded agencies to make reasonable efforts to identify and locate a child's relative when the child needs to be place outside the home. This has made related adoptions the preferred method of placement for agencies, as they are required to give preference for children in need of placement.
The Social Security Act (SSA) directly ties federal funding for foster care and adoption to placement. The SSA requires that state-funded agencies “consider giving preference to an adult relative over a non-related caregiver when determining placement for a child, as long as the relative caregiver meets all relevant state child protection standards.” Additionally, the state of Illinois regulates foster parents and foster care payments/financial for caregivers related to a child. A relative may receive payments for foster care and any other benefits just like a non-related foster parent, as long as he or she meets the state's criteria for being a foster/adoptive parent. In Illinois, the prospective adoptive parents must be:
As couples consider marriage, they may also wish to consider prenuptial agreements. Prenuptial agreements are no longer something used to protect the wealthy. Prenuptial agreements are also used by couples from different financial backgrounds to determine how they will handle various issues if they divorce.
If you are considering a prenuptial agreement, it is imperative that you understand their full capabilities, as well as limits, before signing any documents presented to you.
What is a Prenuptial Agreement?
A prenuptial agreement, or prenup, is a legal document that potential spouses create before they are married. Usually, a prenuptial agreement helps a couple figure out how to deal with their assets, debts, and other financial issues if they decide to divorce or if one spouse passes away. The document can also lay out the couple’s agreement for addressing these issues during their marriage. The agreement is valid as long as both spouses sign it and it goes into effect the day the couple gets married.
While it is common for parents to establish college saving funds for their children, the financial strain of a divorce may distract parents from saving for college. It is also possible that the divorcing couple may find they have different expectations about funding their child’s college. One parent may want to fully fund college, while the other parent only wants to cover certain expenses. These sorts of differences may make it difficult for a divorcing couple to agree on funding their child’s expected costs for college.
If a savings plan was not established before a divorce, it can be difficult to set up an account or agree on a strategy for paying for college. A court can order one, or both parents to make college contribution payments. College contribution payments are a form of child support and may make it easier to plan for a child’s future college expenses.
Petition to Request a College Contribution
2224 W. Ferry Road, Unit 113, | |
1776 S. Naperville Road, Building A, Suite 105, | |
321 N. Clark Street, Suite 900, | |
58 N. Chicago Street, Suite 102, | |
2407 West Lockport Street, Suite 201-H, |
The use of the Internet or this form for communication with the firm or any individual member of the firm does not establish an attorney-client relationship. Confidential or time-sensitive information should not be sent through this form.
I have read and understand the Disclaimer and Privacy Policy.
