When you own a business, you are always thinking about protecting your business from situations that damage its profitability and long term success. Many business owners have prepared for business-related problems, but haven’t considered the effect of a divorce on…
The current IMDMA which governs divorce laws has been in effect since 1977. On July 21, 2015, Governor Rauner approved Senate Bill 57, which updates the act and will become effective beginning January 1, 2016. Some of the act’s major…
Bankruptcy While Married One spouse may file for bankruptcy without the other but in most cases both spouses’ incomes are counted toward determining eligibility to pass an income test. If one spouse files for bankruptcy, the other spouse’s credit will…
Although Illinois parents have the right to use corporal punishment to discipline their children, the right has its limits. Under Illinois law, children can be found to be abused if they are the victims of “excessive” corporal punishment. The courts…
Illinois’s spousal maintenance formula took effect January 1, 2015 to standardize the way maintenance is calculated. Before the formula was enacted, judges had extensive freedom in determining maintenance, which at times led to inconsistent results. In cases where the formula…
The divorce law in Illinois provides that a parent not granted custody of a child is entitled to reasonable visitation rights unless the court finds that visitation would seriously endanger the child’s physical, mental, or emotional health. The reasoning behind…
After the breakdown of a marriage, in most cases divorce is the accepted and appropriate course. If however the parties are opposed to divorce for religious reasons, financial or insurance issues or simply want to separate before deciding whether to…
If you cannot locate your spouse to serve with divorce papers and neither of you is on active military duty, you may qualify to obtain a dissolution of marriage by service through publication of a notice in a newspaper, an alternative to personal service of court papers.
The Definition of the Institution of Marriage has officially been changed. In June of 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to strike down a provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional which stated the definition of marriage is between a man and a woman for the purpose of receiving federal benefits.
There has been a lot of excitement since it was announced that the F2A category (family petition green cards) for spouses and children (21 and under) of lawful permanent residents will be current in August of 2013. In the excitement, however, it is a good idea to review the requirements for adjustment of status that are applicable to all immigrants, and then remember that some of them are waived in certain cases but not in others.