Posted on May 21, 2020 in Kane

It is no secret that ending a marriage can be messy. In many cases, it can be downright nasty, with acrimony and contentiousness that can linger for many years after the divorce is finalized. Of course, there is no requirement that your divorce must follow such a path. The law in Illinois, in fact, explicitly encourages just the opposite. A cooperative, negotiated divorce is almost always preferable to fiercely litigated dissolution, and can help pave the way for a more civil post-divorce relationship between you and your ex-spouse.

Cooperation Encourages Compliance

If you were to step back and objectively assess yourself, are you likely to do something just because you were told to do it? While you may be able to follow orders, you are probably much more willing to do so if you had a role in creating them. An amicable divorce offers the opportunity for you and your spouse to do just that. Together, you can create a workable agreement that addresses whatever concerns each of you may have. Long-term compliance may be significantly improved if you both feel that you were an important part of the settlement.

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 Posted on May 19, 2020 in Main

Sharing parental responsibilities and parenting time of a child with another parent can be full of challenges and disagreements. One issue that many parents struggle with is parental relocation. When one parent wants to move a significant distance away, the other parent may be concerned about how this will affect the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time. If you or your child's other parent are planning to move, make sure to familiarize yourself with the laws regulating parental relocations in shared parenting situations. Depending on the distance between the parent's current residence and the new residence, the relocating parent will likely be required to petition the court for a modification to their divorce decree.

What Counts as a Parental Relocation?

If a parent is moving only a short distance away, the move may not need to be approved by the court. According to Illinois law, a parental relocation is one in which a parent with a greater or equal share of parenting time moves to a new residence and one of the following is true:

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 Posted on May 13, 2020 in Main

Most people know that sexual harassment is against the law. However, many do not realize that it is also illegal for an employer to retaliate against an employee for reporting sexual harassment. Retaliation can take many different forms, but most involve the employee receiving some type of negative work-related consequence. If an employer retaliates against an employee for filing a sexual harassment complaint, the employee may be entitled to damages.

You Have a Right to Oppose Unlawful Practices

Equal Employment Opportunity laws prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who report EEO violations. It is unlawful for an employer to take adverse action against a job applicant or employee who:

• Complains or threatens to complain about sexual harassment or discrimination
• Refuses to follow an order that is reasonably thought to be discriminatory

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 Posted on May 07, 2020 in Kane

If you are a parent residing in Illinois and you are planning to divorce, you and your child's other parent will need to make decisions about the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time. You will have 120 days after you file for divorce to file a proposed parenting plan. If you and your spouse cannot agree on the terms of the plan, the court may need to intervene. There are a number of considerations the parenting plan must contain including decisions about when the child will spend time with each parent, each parent's decision-making authority, and more.

Required Parenting Plan Elements

Parents are encouraged to make as many parenting decisions in advance as possible. The more issues parents work out during the creation of the parenting plan, the less likely they will experience conflict during their post-divorce co-parenting relationship.

Although you may choose to add additional items in your parenting plan, the required elements include:

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 Posted on May 05, 2020 in Main

Although they have long been the subject of misunderstandings, more and more people are choosing to sign a prenuptial agreement before getting married. Prenuptial agreements, or “prenups” for short, are contracts that specify each spouse's property rights and responsibilities in the event of divorce. If you and your partner are considering drafting a prenuptial agreement, you should know that these documents must meet certain criteria in order to be legally-enforceable. Prenuptial agreements that do not meet these specifications or that contain certain mistakes may be considered invalid. This is why it is so important to work with an experienced family law attorney during the creation of any prenuptial agreement.

Incomplete or Falsified Financial Disclosure

When a couple designs a prenuptial agreement, each spouse must be fully forthcoming about his or her assets, income, and debts. A complete inventory of the spouses' finances is needed so that each spouse can make informed decisions about the provisions contained in the agreement. Without a full accounting of each spouse's property and debt, it will be impossible for the couple to form an equitable plan regarding how property and debt should be divided in the event divorce. Furthermore, if the agreement contains incomplete or falsified financial information, it is possible that the document will be considered invalid.

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 Posted on May 01, 2020 in Main

The term sexual harassment often garners a strong response, but it is often misunderstood. According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and other federal and state legislation, it is unlawful for employees to be discriminated against on the basis of their gender. Sexual harassment is one type of sex-based discrimination millions of men and women face every year. Sadly, many victims stay silent about harassment simply because they do not understand their rights.

There are a number of common misconceptions that exist regarding sexual harassment including:

Myth 1: Only Women Can Be Victims of Sexual Harassment

Although women experience sexual harassment on a more frequent basis, men can also be sexually harassed. In fact, about one out of every five sexual harassment complaints reported to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) are filed by men. Men may suffer sexual harassment from both female and male harassers. Many men are hesitant about reporting the harassment because they fear they will not be believed, or they do not realize that the law protects both genders from this unacceptable mistreatment.

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 Posted on April 22, 2020 in Main

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over 50 percent of all American families are remarried or re-coupled, and over 1,000 new stepfamilies are formed every day. Being a stepparent can be a challenging role to fill. The stepparent is an adult authority figure in a child's life but he or she may not have all of the same responsibilities as a biological parent. The path of a stepparent will undoubtedly be filled with obstacles; however, a happy, healthy stepparent-stepchild relationship is possible. If you are a stepparent hoping to have a strong relationship with your new stepchild, read on to learn tips experts say can help.

Develop Healthy Boundaries

It is important to realize that stepparents typically do not fulfill the same role in a child's life as the biological parent does. The younger stepchildren were when their biological parent married the stepparent, the more likely the children are to view the stepparent the same as their biological parent. When stepparents enter an older child or teenager's life, it can be harder for the stepparent to figure out where he or she fits in. Experts say that one of the best ways to avoid conflict and develop a close relationship with your stepchild is to develop healthy boundaries. Do not attempt to take the place of the child's biological parent or immediately become the main disciplinarian in the child's life. With time, you may choose to take on more of an authoritative role in the family, but doing so too soon can backfire.

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 Posted on April 21, 2020 in Kane

Adopting a child is one of the most worthwhile legal pursuits a person can undergo. Unfortunately, the Illinois adoption process can, at times, be complicated and tedious. One step in the adoption process that many adoptive families worry about is the home study. The purpose of an adoption home study is to ensure that the adoptive home is a safe, loving environment for the child to live in. Many adoptive parents are intimidated at the thought of someone coming to evaluate them and their home. They may worry that they will be deemed “not good enough” and denied the adoption. One of the best ways to prepare for your home study and gain peace of mind is to thoroughly educate yourself about what the adoption home study process entails.

Common Elements of a Home Study

The steps that you must take in order to be granted an adoption will depend on whether you are pursuing an international adoption, private adoption, agency adoption, relative adoption, or adoption through the foster care system. Although the adoption process varies significantly, most home studies involve the same basic steps. The agent, social worker, or other individual conducting the home study is seeking to understand two main things:

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 Posted on April 14, 2020 in Main

In 1964, congress passed the Civil Rights Act which prohibits employment discrimination based on sex, religion, national origin, or race. In 1980, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) specified that sexual harassment is considered a form of sex discrimination prohibited by the Civil Rights Act. Although workplace sexual harassment has been against the law for 30 years, many believe that the issue has never been taken as seriously as is has in recent years. Spurred by the social media #MeToo movement and a number of other events, more and more women and men are coming forward and reporting sexual harassment. Now, one of the biggest companies in the world is facing a major lawsuit regarding alleged systemic sexual harassment.

Workers Claim McDonald's Does Not Take Enough Action to Address Sexual Harassment

Recently, McDonald's staff in Florida announced that they were filing a $500 million sexual harassment lawsuit against the fast food chain. The two women named in the lawsuit have filed the suit on behalf of the 5,000 women who work at the Florida restaurants. They claim that many staff are subject to sexual and derogatory comments, jokes, and even physical assaults.

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 Posted on April 09, 2020 in Kane

“The best interests of the child” is one of the most common phrases in the realm of family law. A child's well-being, of course, should remain among the top priorities in proceedings for divorce, allocation of parental responsibilities, parenting time, non-parent visitation, and adoption. The challenge, however, is that determining what exactly constitutes a child's best interests is open to interpretation. As such, each parent may fully believe that they are acting in their child's best interests yet hold vastly different objectives regarding the outcome of the case.

Helping the Process

When you and your child's other parent cannot agree on a parenting plan or other arrangements regarding your child, the court is likely to offer several options. To start with, you may be required to participate in court-ordered mediation designed to help you and the other parent reach an agreement with the help of a third-party mediator. Mediation, however, is only possible in situations where both parties are willing and able to work constructively with one another.

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