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Illinois Divorce Mediation
Very few divorce cases are uncontested, where the divorcing couple agrees on all aspects of the split. In a contested divorce, the spouses have a couple of options when deciding how to resolve their issues. One option is to litigate the matters, but another viable option for divorcing spouses is through mediation.
What is Mediation?
Mediation is a process where a neutral third party handles all of the issues in your divorce. You and your divorcing spouse sit down with a mediator and discuss the contentious issues in a private forum. Then, the mediator helps to craft a solution in which both parties are satisfied.
The spouses then take the mediated agreement to court, where it can be approved by the family law judge. Mediation can cover all contested issues in a divorce, including child custody, visitation, spousal support, tax considerations, disposition of the residence, division of property, and the division of debt.
DCFS Case Timeline
The Illinois Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) handles all cases involving allegations of child abuse or neglect in the home. Any person can report suspected abuse or neglect to the DCFS, and they have the right to investigate the case in addition to removing a child from a home. Every child protection case in the state follows the same timeline, so you can know what to expect as the case moves forward.
Within 48 Hours of Removal
On the first day of a child protection case, emergency removal is used to take the child from the home by DCFS for his or her safety. Excluding weekends and holidays, within 48 hours of the removal a temporary custody hearing is held. The court decides whether there is probable cause, urgent and immediate necessity, and in the best interests of the child to place him or her in the custody of DCFS.
Failure to Pay Child Support
Along with the division of assets and spousal support, if children are involved, a final divorce decree also includes a child custody agreement and an order for child support. The purpose of child support is to protect the best interests of a child and provide support to the parent with primary custody.
However, sometimes a parent will fail to pay their child support obligation, and it can have negative consequences for everyone involved.
Consequences of Failing to Pay Child Support
If a parent fails to pay child support, the other parent can petition the court to impose penalties. A family law judge can sanction civil and criminal punishments against the parent in arrears, dependent on a number of factors involved in the case. Penalties associated with failure to pay child support can include the following:
Benefits of Establishing Paternity in Illinois
Paternity refers to the relationship between a child and his or her legal father. A father, mother, and child can all benefit from establishing paternity, which gives a legal father rights and responsibilities regarding a child. It is important to note that the legal father of a child does not need to be the biological father, and Illinois law provides for many different ways that a mother or potential father can establish paternity.
Benefits of Establishing Paternity
There are several benefits to establishing paternity for both parents involved and the child. From a father’s perspective, he can create and nurture a relationship with his child. He can also pass on his family name, culture, and anything else that is important to him. The mother of a child also benefits from establishing paternity. She can apply for support from the father if they are not married and have another adult present to support the emotional development of the child.
Illinois Visitation Abuse
As part of any divorce settlement where children are involved, a child visitation schedule details when a child should spend time with each parent. However, sometimes one parent does not wish for their child to see the other parent and will deny him or her the right to see the child. Known as visitation abuse, a parent cannot be legally kept from their child when a custody schedule is set by the court, and there are legal remedies available to help.
Illinois Visitation Abuse Law
Visitation abuse is considered a civil concept in Illinois. Defined in 750 ILCS 5.607.1, visitation abuse occurs when a parent denies another parent visitation as decided by the court or exercises his or her visitation rights in a manner that is harmful to a child or a child's custodian.
Misconduct during Pregnancy: Punishment against Mothers
In our society, parental rights are fundamental rights, meaning they are the type of rights that are guaranteed to citizens of the United States by virtue of the Constitution. Because of this fact, to terminate parental rights, the government needs to prove that there has been some behavior or misconduct so bad that it causes harm or a threat of harm to the well-being of a child, and therefore the government has the right to intervene on the child(ren)’s behalf.
Misconduct, Neglect, and Abuse of Children
When we think about misconduct or behavior that is considered neglectful or abusive, generally we think about actions taken by parents to injure or hurt a child from infancy until the child is no longer a minor. However, Illinois law (among other jurisdictions in the United States) has found that misconduct while a fetus is still in utero may trigger termination of parental rights once the child has left the womb. Under our law, how can the government enforce the termination of parental rights for neonatal abuse?
Illinois Premarital Agreements
Reasons for Premarital Agreements
A premarital agreement is a contract made between two potential spouses regarding any and all aspects of a marriage. There are several different reasons why couples agree to sign a premarital agreement before marriage. One person may be wealthier than the other and may want to protect that wealth in the case of a divorce. Additionally, if one party comes into a marriage with an existing business, a premarital agreement can protect those interests.
A prenuptial agreement can also be made to ensure predictability, to plan for the future, and to provide security for both parties involved. It can guarantee future life insurance, pension, or military benefits even in the case of divorce. It can also limit future support, to an extent, so that in the case of divorce both people feel like they are exiting the marriage with some level of support.
When You Are Entitled to Spousal Support
Spousal support is one of the biggest issues in a divorce. Also referred to as alimony or maintenance, spousal support requires that one former spouse continues to financially support the other former spouse for a period of time or permanently. There are several different types of maintenance that can be agreed upon or ordered by court. However, it must first be determined whether either spouse is entitled to receive support from the other.
Temporary Spousal Support
During the course of divorce proceedings, one spouse can receive temporary maintenance from the other. This temporary alimony has no effect on whether permanent spousal support will be awarded at the end of the divorce, but it can serve to help provide for the lesser earning spouse while the divorce is ongoing. Typically, temporary alimony begins when one spouse files for divorce and it ends when the divorce is finalized.
Child Support Tax Considerations
Taxes affect nearly every aspect of our lives, and divorce is no exception. It is important that you consider the tax implications to all of the decisions that go into your divorce, especially if there are children involved. Child support, custody, and other issues surrounding the children can have a major impact on your future taxes.
Child Support and Dependency Exemptions
Child support has no effect on your taxes. The parent sending child support cannot deduct payments and the parent receiving the support does not count it as income. However, a child can be claimed as a $3,100 dependency exemption that can be worth as much as $1,000 to taxpayers in the upper tax brackets.
Typically, the custodial parent is allowed to claim the child as a dependency exemption. However, if the custody is split then both parents may claim the child as a dependent so long as the final divorce decree claims them both as custodial parents. If the child is part of a joint custody, then the parent who spends the most time with the child gets to claim them as a dependent for taxes. In addition, dependency exemptions can be transferred between the parents through agreement for any specified amount of time.
Grounds for Filing for Divorce in Illinois
Petitioning the court for a divorce can be one of the most complicated and stressful times of your life. In Illinois, the court still requires that a person filing for divorce give a specific reason for why the marriage is ending, also known as giving grounds for the divorce. As such, Illinois is considered a “fault” state for divorce, but the law does also allow a “no fault” reason to end a marriage.
Fault Grounds for Divorce
Illinois statute 750 ILCS 5/401 states the reasons why a person may file for divorce in this state. In addition to giving grounds, the petitioning spouse must also meet the residency requirements of the law, which for Illinois requires the spouse to live in the state for at least 90 days prior to the filing. A spouse must prove that one of the following has occurred “without cause or provocation” before the court will allow a divorce:
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