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Recent Blog Posts
What Can I Do to Get a Fair Divorce Settlement if My Spouse Lies About Money?
Financial problems are consistently ranked as one of the top causes of divorce. Arguments over credit card debt, disagreements about how to spend money, and allegations of financial infidelity may all hasten the speed at which a marriage breaks down. If your spouse has a history of lying about money, you may understandably be concerned about how this deception may impact your divorce. In order for property division, child support, and spousal maintenance determinations to be fair, each spouse must disclose complete and accurate financial information. Unfortunately, this is harder said than done when a spouse lies about income or assets during divorce.
Illinois Law Guarantees Your Right to a Fair Divorce Settlement
According to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA), each spouse has a right to an equitable portion of property contained in the marital estate. This may include businesses, vehicles, real estate, bank account funds, insurance policies, investments, retirement accounts, and other property acquired during the marriage. However, some spouses fail to report income or hide assets during divorce to avoid splitting the value of an asset or to sway property division agreements in their favor.
How Can I Prevent a Stepfather from Adopting My Child?
As anyone in a blended family can tell you, navigating relationships involving stepparents and stepchildren is often difficult. Many parents struggle to accept it when an ex remarries and brings a new stepparent into their child's life. This is especially true if the parent feels that the stepparent is trying to replace him or her. If you are a father currently in this situation, you may wonder whether your child's stepfather has the right to adopt your child. The answer depends on several factors.
Illinois Law Regarding Parental Rights
According to Illinois law, a child can only have two parents. A child may only be adopted if one or both of the child's parents is deceased or has their parental rights terminated. If you have already established paternity or parentage of your child, you are the child's father in the eyes of the law. This means that your child's stepfather cannot adopt your child unless your parental rights are terminated - either voluntarily or involuntarily. Illinois law seeks to preserve the parent-child relationship whenever possible. Therefore, it is only under extreme circumstances that a parent's rights are terminated against his or her will.
What Should I Do If I Keep Getting Asked Out by Someone At Work?
Navigating your professional relationships with fellow workers can sometimes be tricky. Many people find themselves in awkward situations with coworkers. However, there are some circumstances in which an awkward situation with a coworker becomes a legal issue. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and other legislation prohibit discrimination and harassment on the basis of sex. In some cases, asking a coworker on a date is a violation of state or federal sexual harassment laws.
Supervisors Who Ask Out Subordinates May Be Accused of Quid Pro Quo
Quid pro quo harassment involves a superior using his or her authority to gain some type of sexual or romantic benefit. If your manager or supervisor has asked you out on a date, it could be argued that he or she is attempting to use his or her authority to coerce you into accepting. This is why most workplaces have strict policies prohibiting romantic relationships between superiors and subordinates. A supervisor does not need to explicitly offer work benefits in exchange for a date to be guilty of quid pro quo harassment. Even the implication of better pay, a more desirable work schedule, or other job-related benefits may constitute quid pro quo harassment.
Why is it Important to Report Sexual Harassment?
Although sexual harassment is prohibited by state and federal law, workplace harassment and discrimination continue to be problems in Illinois. Unfortunately, many employees who are harassed at work never report the inappropriate and unlawful behavior. If you have experienced sexual harassment, you may be unsure whether you should say anything about the harassment. Perhaps you are the type of person who tries to avoid conflict and “get along” with everyone at work. You may even assume that reporting the harassment will only cause greater problems. However, staying silent about workplace sexual harassment is never the answer.
Harassment Rarely Goes Away on Its Own
Unfortunately, sexual harassment tends to escalate if it is not appropriately addressed. If an employee gets away with making crude jokes at another employee's expense, he or she may make increasingly disparaging remarks. If a supervisor convinces an employee to go out on a date with him or her by implying that the employee will get a favorable performance review, the supervisor may escalate the behavior into inappropriate physical touch. Ignoring inappropriate or harassing behavior only shows the harasser that you are willing to tolerate being mistreated. The harasser may also be emboldened to act inappropriately toward other employees.
Getting Divorced in Illinois? Make Sure You Understand Alimony Laws
Getting divorced can significantly change your financial situation. This is especially true for disabled spouses, homemakers, and stay-at-home parents. Alimony, also known as “spousal maintenance” in Illinois law, is financial support that a spouse provides the other spouse during or after divorce. If you are getting divorced in Illinois, it is essential to know how and when spousal maintenance is awarded.
Why Spousal Maintenance is Awarded in Illinois
The purpose of spousal maintenance is to minimize the negative financial impact a divorce has on a spouse who is unable to support themselves without assistance. A divorcing spouse may also be entitled to spousal maintenance through an existing prenuptial or postnuptial agreement. Spouses may also request spousal maintenance from the court. When deciding whether to award spousal support, Illinois judges consider the spouses' financial and employment circumstances as well as factors such as:
Successful Co-Parenting When You Have a Contentious Relationship with Your Ex
Parents often worry about how a divorce will affect their children. If you are divorced or soon will be, the safety and well-being of your kids are likely your top priority. You may be especially concerned about how your relationship with your ex-spouse will affect your children. While some divorced and unmarried parents remain friends, others can hardly stand to be in the same room together. If your relationship with your ex is closer to the latter, consider the following tips for maintaining a peaceful and effective co-parenting relationship.
Get Everything in Writing
A successful and non-combative co-parenting relationship starts with a strong parenting agreement. In Illinois, divorcing parents are expected to submit a “parenting plan” that describes the parenting schedule and other key parenting concerns. The parenting plan should be as detailed as possible. The more that you have in writing, the less you will be forced to figure out in the future. Furthermore, the elements of your parenting plan are legally enforceable. This means that if your ex refuses to stick with the plan, you can get the plan enforced by the court.
How to Get a Divorce When You Have a Toxic Marriage
Sometimes, what starts as a loving and enjoyable relationship devolves into a relationship that you barely recognize. Years of hurt feelings and things left unsaid can create an atmosphere of resentment and hostility. Communicating and working through issues as a team becomes impossible. You constantly catch your spouse in lies and struggle to believe anything he or she says. If this sounds familiar to you, you may be involved in a toxic relationship. Getting a divorce when you have a toxic relationship with your spouse is no easy feat.
Protect Yourself from Harassment and Abuse
Sometimes, a toxic relationship becomes an abusive relationship. If you have been subjected to physical, emotional, or psychological abuse, stalking behaviors, or financial exploitation, the time to act is now. Abusive treatment rarely deescalates over time and often worsens when the abusive person feels he or she is losing control. Remember, abuse does not only involve physical harm. Abuse is defined by Illinois law as harassment, interference with personal liberty, intimidation, and willful deprivation as well as physical abuse. An Emergency Order of Protection can require your spouse to move out of your home, give you temporary custody of children, stay a certain distance away from you and your workplace, and more.
How to Reveal Hidden Assets in a High Net Worth Divorce
One of the most crucial aspects of a divorce case is the disclosure of financial information. Without a full and accurate accounting of a couple's assets and liabilities, it is difficult to make fair decisions regarding property distribution, child support, and spousal maintenance. If you are considering divorce and you or your spouse have a high net worth, the stakes are even higher. Identifying and evaluating the assets, income, and revenue are key to ensuring that the terms of your divorce are based on factual financial information.
Common Methods Spouses Use to Falsify Financial Information in a Divorce
Per Illinois law, spouses are entitled to an equitable share of the marital estate in a divorce. Before the marital estate can be divided, an inventory of each spouse's assets, income, and debts should be made. One of the first steps in any divorce case is financial disclosure. Some divorcing spouses “forget” to include sources of income or assets on their financial affidavits. Others actively hide assets by transferring the asset to a friend or colleague or physically hiding cash or valuables in safety deposit boxes or around their home. Business owners may alter business records, delay invoices, or temporarily lower prices to create the illusion of a failing business.
Illinois Child Support: When Can a Support Order Be Modified?
When a couple has a child together – be they married or not – both parents are legally obligated to provide financial support. Child support orders are the legal manifestation of that obligation, and they outline how much should be paid (generally on a monthly basis). Yet, often, these orders are set up when a child is young, or when a couple first divorces. What happens when life circumstances change?
When the Needs of a Child Have Changed
Children are constantly growing, changing, and evolving. It only makes sense that their needs change, too. Yet not all changes constitute a basis for a modification to a child support order. Generally, the shift in needs must be fairly significant. For example, if a child is accepted to an elite educational program, the receiving parent may seek a modification to help cover the tuition. Likewise, if a child is diagnosed with a medical condition or illness and needs extensive medical treatment, a modification may be requested..
Understanding the Difference Between Sexual Misconduct, Sexual Harassment, and Sexual Assault
If you look at Google Trends to see the recent history of the term “sexual harassment,” you can see that this phrase started being searched at a much higher rate about three and half years ago. This is no coincidence. October of 2017 marked the beginning of what has become a revolution against sexual harassment in the workplace. Before the end of that month, over eighty women had made accusations of sexual harassment against media mogul Harvey Weinstein. Allegations against other high-profile individuals quickly followed. Since then, many more women who had silently endured sexual harassment have come forward to report the behavior. Throughout this increased media attention, there has been a great deal of confusion and misinformation about terms like sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, and sexual assault.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is a term that is frequently misused. Many people use this phrase to mean undesired sexual attention, and while that can be part of sexual harassment, it is by far not the full definition. From a legal perspective, sexual harassment can only exist in the workplace. So, while the construction worker who catcalls women walking past a construction site is inappropriate and annoying, he or she is not engaging in unlawful sexual harassment.
Read MoreServing DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Will, Cook, and Lake Counties Since 1949
For guidance with your case, contact our attorneys at 630-665-7300. We will answer your questions, explain the process relevant to your case, and advise how best to proceed. Our firm has locations in Wheaton and St. Charles, Illinois, and we work with clients throughout the Chicagoland area, including, DuPage, Kane, Kendall and Will Counties.
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From our law offices in Wheaton, St. Charles, and Sycamore, the family law and civil litigation law attorneys of Mirabella, Kincaid, Frederick & Mirabella, LLC represent businesses and individual clients throughout the western suburbs of Chicago, including Wheaton, Naperville, Oak Brook, Oakbrook Terrace, Glen Ellyn, Carol Stream, Lombard, Downers Grove, Burr Ridge, Hinsdale, Lisle, Elmhurst, Winfield, Woodridge, Warrenville, and throughout DuPage County. We also serve clients in Will County, Kendall County, DeKalb County, and Kane County, including St. Charles, Sugar Grove, Geneva, DeKalb, Batavia, Aurora, North Aurora, Elgin, Algonquin, Barrington Hills, Bartlett, Big Rock, Burlington, Campton Hills, Carpentersville, West Dundee, East Dundee, Elburn, Hampshire, Huntley, Kaneville, Maple Park, Sleepy Hollow, and Wayne.
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