The Illinois Family Lawyer

2008-06-14T12:42:00.002-05:00

Here's a recent case interpreting the Illinois Parentage Act touching on what happens when a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity has been signed by two parents and later on one of them thinks it's a mistake...i.e. one of them claims usually the alleged father is not the father. The case is unusual because it's actually the child's mother who tries to vacate the court's order against the first father.

The case emphasizes again the huge stakes of acknowledging you're the father without DNA testing. If you're wrong and you don't get into court within 60 days you're likely stuck. You're on the hook for 18-23 years of various forms of child-related financial support.

2008-06-14T12:05:00.001-05:00

Here's a piece reporting on Illinois' efforts to collect child support related to taking away non-custodial parent drivers licenses.

Under the new program, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services sends warning notices to parents who owe at least $2,500 in child support and have an Illinois driver's license.

If the parent does not reply, their names are sent to the secretary of state, who suspends the license 60 days later.

2008-03-19T15:04:00.002-05:00

What is a "family or household member" under the IL Domestic Violence Act? Well, the statute says...

"

Family or household members" include spouses, former spouses, parents, children, stepchildren and , persons who share or formerly shared a common dwelling, persons who have or allegedly have a child in common, persons who share or allegedly share a blood relationship through a child, persons who have or have had a dating or engagement relationship, persons with disabilities and their personal assistants, and caregivers as defined in paragraph (3) of subsection (b) of Section 12‑21 of the Criminal Code of 1961."

That's what was at issue in a recent 4th District Appellate case, Benjamin v. McKinnon, No. 4-07-0079. The facts were fairly typical, Plaintiff was alleging various verbal and physical abuse against two Defendants. What was a bit unusual was that the two Defendants were a FORMER father-in-law and brother-in-law...i.e. the Plaintiff was FORMERLY married to the Defendants brother/son. So do those two people fit within the above definition? The court said YES!

The court looked at this language: "other persons related by blood or by present or prior marriage" and said that includes former in-laws.

2008-02-21T10:32:00.003-06:00

A NY Judge has ruled that a "friend request" on MySpace constituted a violation of a Temporary Order of Protection. I would think that under the IL Domestic Violence Act a judge could find that such a request is "harassment" and thus a violation of an OP.

2008-02-21T09:35:00.002-06:00

The Times had a thoughtful piece entitled, Religion Joins Custody Cases. The piece discussed the alleged increasing role of a parent's religious choice as a factor in how judges decide custody cases. Of course religion along with education and healthcare have always been the so-called big 3 factors of custody...so not sure what's new here.

Of course then there are the "circumcision" cases where religion is often a factor. A Chicago judge recently denied a parents desire to have a son circumcised.

2008-02-06T09:38:00.001-06:00

Thanks Dad, but I'm still going after my ex-husband...that's what happened here: In re Marriage of Hopwood, No. 5-06-0660).

As part of dissolution of marriage judgment, the former husband was required to pay-off a $28k loan of the parties. That loan had been guaranteed by the former wife's father. So ex-husband fails to make payments on the loan and the lender goes after the father. Father pays off the loan in a lump-sum payment...done. Now, several years later the ex-wife now tries to enforce the judgment against the ex-husband for his failure to pay the loan.

Nope...denied for lack of standing. It's like this, typically when you're alleging that someone is not following a court's judgment you are asking a court to find that person in contempt of court. The only punishment for this "contempt" can be to force someone to act...the most common scenario is for a person to be jailed for not paying child support and then there's a bond of say 10% of the support due so the person jailed has to make some partial payment on his back support to get out of jail.

The problem with the ex-wife here? Since her father had paid the loan, there was NO lack of payment by the ex-husband to enforce.

2008-01-26T09:36:00.000-06:00

Ah...I love a good settlement in the domestic relations field. It looks like Brian Urlacher and the mother of one of his kids have gotten things resolved w/o further court intervention. Pick-up/Drop-off disputes, unpaid medical expenses and child support...sounds like my days.

2008-01-23T17:39:00.001-06:00

I wonder if I could be the general counsel for the Chicago Bears regarding all domestic relations matters? I'd be doing great between Urlacher, Briggs and now, the Sackman, good old #95 Richard Dent...Here's the article.

And look at that the case is in courtroom 1403 over at 32 W. Randolph w/ Judge Reynolds. Darn I had a case there the other day...I must have missed the fun. Drat!

2008-01-14T16:09:00.000-06:00

10 Tips about reverse mortgages.

2008-01-10T12:52:00.000-06:00

Saw this piece about two daughters who've been criminally charged for neglecting their ailing mother who subsequently died. Here's a nugget from the article:

Mary Virginia Barry, 84, weighed only 70 pounds when paramedics found her in April in a cluttered bedroom, lying on soiled sheets with ants crawling on her, in the Geneva house she shared with two daughters.

Barry, suffering from cancer and the aftermath of a stroke several years ago, died of pneumonia days later on April 27, and autopsy photos showed her vertebrae visible through numerous bedsores. On Wednesday, her daughters were charged with criminal neglect.

Something to keep in mind...frankly these sort of actions aren't brought frequently enough.

2008-01-09T09:12:00.000-06:00

Is it alimony/maintenance?? Important question...if it's alimony then that money is tax deductible by the payor and it's treated as income for the recipient. I.e...big tax consequences.

If alimony is part of a divorce judgment it has to be clearly defined as such:

--Must be paid pursuant to a divorce or separation agreement;
--Parties must live in separate households;
--Payments must be designated to end when the recipient dies;

A recent case dealt with the big question above (Proctor v. IRS). The former husband in a divorce had been ordered to pay part of his disposable pension payments to his former wife as a "property settlement." This payment was not in any way said to NOT be alimony.

Well, the husband tries to claim these payments as tax deductible alimony and guess what, the tax court agreed! A nice little tax burden to the former wife.

My general thoughts are that alimony/maintenance must be defined very clearly because you have both the family law issues but then there are also the tax issues. Further, it's tricky when a person has a pension that's already in payment status. If the former husband were not yet retired then a QDRO would have been entered and clearly that's property division.

2008-01-05T14:50:00.000-06:00

Former rock star Britney Spears' child custody problems continued. Her former husband was granted sole custody and her visitation rights were suspended.

2007-12-18T13:12:00.000-06:00

Another Chicago Bear with child custody/support issues. Briggs and Urlacher have something to talk about.

2007-12-18T12:30:00.000-06:00

Here's a brief clip about a recent Cook County family law case involving a visitation restriction:

1st Dist. In re Marriage of Manhoff, No. 1-06-2762 (December 5, 2007) 3rd div. (QUINN) Affirmed Mother's petition to restrict the visitation of the father, alleging disrupting conduct on the part of the father in the presence of the children, was sufficient, despite failure to attach affidavit in compliance with local Circuit Rules, since it contained 1-109 certification. Further, father has failed to establish that trial court abused its discretion when it ordered supervised visitation, with the father required to pay for the supervision, since he failed to include a transcript of the hearing in his report of proceedings.

Take a read of the full case. The court restricted the father's visitation seemingly based on a mere argument between the father, mother and the mother's boyfriend.

2007-12-10T12:59:00.000-06:00

Some good elder care resources are listed in this article.

2007-12-10T11:21:00.000-06:00

Here's a frightening read about the pace that it's taking for the Social Security Administration to resolve Social Security Disability questions. The piece suggest SSDI appeals are taking some 3 years to process.

Of the roughly 2.5 million disability applicants each year now, about two-thirds are turned down initially by state agencies, which make decisions with federal oversight based on paper records but no face-to-face interview. Most of those who are refused give up at that point or after a failed request for local reconsideration.

But of the more than 575,000 who go on to file appeals — putting them in the vast line for a hearing before a special federal judge — two-thirds eventually win a reversal.

I'm not sure what's more concerning, the long wait time or the fact that such a large percentage of cases are overturned on appeal.

2007-12-05T14:28:00.000-06:00

A couple of interesting family law cases that have been recently reported:

First was Schroeder v. Winyard regarding an Alienation of Affections suit. This sort of suit is where a former spouse sues a person for tempting her/his former spouse to have an affair and if successful is awarded monetary damages. The plaintiff was divorced from her husband in 2003 and brought the Alienation of Affections case in 2005. However, the defendant had filed for bankruptcy in 2001. The trial court dismissed the case saying that this liability was discharged as part of the bankruptcy. It's interesting because if the trial court said this type of case were an intentional tort this would NOT have been dischargeable. Strange because as a lawyer I surely consider this type of case a tort.

The second as was In re Marriage of Rife. This one's almost funny. Here the marital settlement agreement said that the mother's right to receive child support would be terminated if she tried to modify visitation, child support or custody. No suprise, the court ruled that this was against the public policy of preserving the trial court's ability to modify child-related provisions of the judgment for dissolution of marriage if it's in the child's best interests.

2007-12-03T17:55:00.000-06:00

Here's an interesting overview of long-term care insurance.

2007-12-03T17:26:00.001-06:00

Here's a link to new attempts to get back child support when people apply for hunting licenses. The authority to do this is not new...it seems merely to be an attempt at improving the system.

2007-12-03T17:02:00.000-06:00

The IL Supreme Court recently upheld a fine of over $1 million assessed against a child support obligor's employer for failing to withhold support properly. It's always important to consider a cause of action against an employer. Often the employer has the $$.

We often use Notices of Withholding (NOW) with large employers. But think about using these with small businesses or self-employed people too (small corps and the like). I have a case right now where it would have been nice if the previous attorney had used a NOW with this small corporation that the father/obligor runs. He unilaterally reduced child support...we're bringing a case against him but it would be great if we could go after the business too!

2007-12-01T13:28:00.000-06:00

A little tip for the holiday season:

Send your clients to an experienced mediator in November if you anticipate problems with holiday schedules. Give your clients sample holiday schedules to get them thinking about where they fail so they can succeed independent of a legal proceeding.

2007-12-01T13:03:00.000-06:00

Here's one of the many articles regarding Hulk Hogan's divorce case.

2007-12-01T12:40:00.000-06:00

This article describes an often under reported issue in the child support universe. It's the scenario where custodial parents on public aid use the IV-D program, the Cook County State's Attorney in Cook County, Illinois, to collect child support and part of any funds collected first are used to pay back the state before coming to the custodial parent.

A solution? Use a private attorney and the State never gets their hands on the money.

2007-11-20T11:21:00.000-06:00

Another open enrollment period for Medicare Part D has begun:

If you are a Medicare beneficiary, it is time to review your Medicare prescription drug plan options. The Medicare Part D open enrollment period began Thursday, November 15, 2007 and ends December 31, 2007. During the enrollment period, you can sign up for a prescription drug plan if you don't have one and you will be able to switch to a different plan if you choose to.

2007-11-20T10:30:00.001-06:00

Here's an article regarding the huge and growing out-of-pocket costs that exist for people caring for aging relatives. The out-of-pocket cost of caring for an aging parent or spouse averages about $5,500 a year, according to the nation’s first in-depth study of such expenses, a sum that is more than double previous estimates and more than the average American household spends annually on health care and entertainment combined. The National Alliance for Caregiving did the study.

2007-11-20T10:25:00.000-06:00

The question: Is the church marital property?

There was a sad but interesting piece here about a pastor and wife going through a divorce and the wife's claiming that the church itself is marital property just like any other small business. The ideas of a small business being "marital property" is nothing new...the sad part of it is the allegation that the pastor/husband was pillaging the church.

2007-11-20T10:23:00.000-06:00

Hey, the violence in Iraq is interrupting my scheduled visitation:

In re Marriage of Saheb, No. 1-06-3304 (November 13, 2007) 1st div. (R. GORDON) Affirmed Trial court did not abuse its discretion when it, as part of joint parenting order awarding residential custody to the father, allowed the mother to exercise her visitation in the UAE despite it not being a signatory to the Hague Convention; because a) the father was able to obtain relief in the UAW when he petitioned to bar the mother from traveling with the parties' daughter to Iraq, b) the mother was required to post a bond, and c) the father was allowed to hold the child's visa, and the court found that visitation in the mother's home country was in the child's best interests. In addition, the father waived his objection to the GAL's oral report by failing to object to it; and the trial court was not obligated to follow all of the recommendations of the 604(b) evaluator.

2007-11-20T10:18:00.000-06:00

Here's an interesting article about the scary impact of unmarried couples. Some of the impact of divorce and unmarried parents:

However, there are many other studies that, taken together, reinforce the concerns. Among the findings:

_Children living in households with unrelated adults are nearly 50 times as likely to die of inflicted injuries as children living with two biological parents, according to a study of Missouri abuse reports published in the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2005.

_Children living in stepfamilies or with single parents are at higher risk of physical or sexual assault than children living with two biological or adoptive parents, according to several studies co-authored by David Finkelhor, director of the University of New Hampshire's Crimes Against Children Research Center.

_Girls whose parents divorce are at significantly higher risk of sexual assault, whether they live with their mother or their father, according to research by Robin Wilson, a family law professor at Washington and Lee University.

2007-11-09T14:24:00.000-06:00

My letter to the editor concerning the Trib. November 5, 2007 lead editorial:

What a disappointing position from the Tribune...essentially, because adultery is not uncommon our public policy should therefore not discourage it.

An important purpose of our civil litigation system, and specifically tort cases (such as alienation of affections), is to discourage certain types of behavior. Torts are not criminal behavior, so I suppose it is correct to say that people are "legally entitled to do" such acts. But, they are civil "wrongs" that we want to discourage...like doctors who screw up during surgery or the person who drives through the front door of my home.

I think marriage is something to be encouraged and a person's conduct that undermines marriage should be punishable. With the elimination of "fault" in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, the alienation of affections cause of action is the only punishment that is left. The tone of the Editorial, "courts...starting" to hand out these financial awards is misleading. This type of action has been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. Also, success in this sort of case is rare I think due primarily to judges allowing personal views to cloud their jurisprudence.

We should encourage greater use of the Alienation of Affection cause of action. Please don't discourage marriage Tribune.

2007-11-06T10:54:00.000-06:00

Another useful holding recently was in Crank v. Crank. The case essentially deals with the issue of whether there are limits on how much a court can order to be paid toward past due child support or maintenance arrearages. The court said that a court must look to the Income Withholding for Support Act (750 ILCS 28/1) which caps payments at 50/60 percent of a person's disposable income depending on whether the support is current or past due.

2007-11-06T10:03:00.001-06:00

Here's a piece about efforts that the IL Department of Children and Family Services are making to keep former wards in foster and permanent homes.

The piece said that some 8% of children that were adopted a decade ago returned at one time to the custody of DCFS. They're offering services to adoptive families in crisis, respite care, orthodontia, drug treatment and counseling.

2007-11-06T09:35:00.000-06:00

The Trib. had an interesting and in my opinion wrong-headed lead editorial yesterday (11/5) opposing the "alienation of affection" tortuous cause of action. Illinois is I believe one of 6 states that continues to have this type of lawsuit. Here's the Illinois Alienation of Affections Act.

My view, what's wrong for a cause of action whereby adultery is labeled wrong and civil liability attaches? As a practical matter this type of lawsuit is very rarely successful. It's gotten some recent publicity due to this large verdict in Mississippi.

2007-10-29T13:39:00.000-05:00

Here's an overview piece about Illinois' attempts to collect back child support.

2007-10-29T13:08:00.001-05:00

Interesting post over at the SCOTUS blog regarding an alienation of affections case that the U.S. Supreme Court is considering taking up. Illinois is one of the only 6 states that continue to have this cause of action.

2007-10-27T14:21:00.000-05:00

Anybody seen Divorce Magazine? I was just skimming periodicals at the library and picked up a copy. They have a Website plus hard copy.

I had to laugh at one article, "Tips from Divorce Lawyers on How to Stay Married." Take it from me (not speaking about me personally...happily married on the first try) divorce lawyers are not good marital role models.

2007-10-24T11:51:00.000-05:00

I've run into this before...

I had a hearing yesterday after the IL Dept. of Healthcare and Family Services had frozen some $12,000 of a father's because he owed back child support. He actually was attempting to appeal this "freeze." Why? Allegedly his name was simply placed on his mother's account to help her with bill paying, ect. Don't do this!! It's a long shot that he'll be successful in fighting this.

The first lesson I suppose is don't get behind in child support payments. BUT, if you do get behind (and it does happen sometimes) keep your savings where IDHFS can't find them. And surely don't share an account with another person where the money isn't even yours.

2007-10-20T15:44:00.000-05:00

Effective June 1, 2008, one may designate a short-term guardianship for a minor up to 365 days...an increase from the current 60 days. This can help particularly with school enrollment issues for minor children.

2007-10-20T14:00:00.000-05:00

A good geriatric care manager for people with elderly relatives in the Chicago area:

ElderCare Solutions, Inc.

2007-10-20T13:42:00.000-05:00

Well, one of my more interesting cases just got wrapped up. At the core of the case was support for a daughter after she turned 19. What was unique was that this girl had failed a grade in high school so she was a senior in high school during the year that she was 19. The daughter attended a private high school. The attorney for the mother brought a petition for support alleging that the girl was disabled based on the allegation that she had ADHD.

I said that's crap ADHD is not a disability that allows support pursuant to Section 513 of the Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Eventually the opposing party backed down realizing they'd have to bring in some high priced experts to testify to the daughters disability. We came to an Agreed Order regarding college expenses.

The problem for the mother in this case was that the father had not been ordered to contribute to tuition prior to the daughter turning 19. If he had, then 513 would have been appropriate and they wouldn't have had to pursue this bogus disability claim. What's the lesson, probably ask the court for the father to contribute to tuition immediately when the child begins private school.

2007-10-18T11:53:00.000-05:00

Saw a little nugget in Chicago Lawyer from Joseph DuCanto. The tip is to name the custodial parent as the beneficiary on the life insurance on the other parent's life. I think more often than not Marital Settlement Agreements will name the respective parent as "trustee for xyz child." Naming the parent directly allows for easier access to funds and that's the intention of the life insurance anyways. Also, perhaps add a 30/60 deadline to do this and show proof...attorneys follow-up on this. Too often these provisions aren't followed up and then tragedy strikes and the now single parent is having to fuss with probate court.

2007-10-18T09:07:00.001-05:00

Saw this interesting piece about using social networking sites in case development. Here's a blurb regarding the family law context:

In one case, Malbrough said she helped secure shared custody for the father after finding his wife had posted sexually explicit comments on her boyfriend's MySpace page. In another case, a husband's credibility was questioned because, on his MySpace page, he said he was single and looking.

2007-10-15T09:33:00.001-05:00

Here's short little piece from the Trib. about a newborn being found safe after an Amber Alert. Supposedly a 2-month-old was taken from the mother by the father.

This is a good reminder...I have these scenarios fairly regularly. Call the cops immediately and then likely pursue an Order of Protection in court to cutoff contact between the other parent and the child.

2007-09-20T11:36:00.000-05:00

A nice overview of long-term care insurance in today's Sun-Times.

2007-09-20T11:31:00.000-05:00

Here's a story about a Divorce 101 class being offered by Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg. Looks like a good class although I'd like to see more marriage classes rather than those where divorce is presumed.

2007-09-15T09:43:00.000-05:00

Here's a piece about using spying technology to monitor your spouse's computer habits. The piece talks about trying to catch your spouse cheating. My thought about it is that in Illinois this stuff doesn't matter..."fault" isn't relevant. This stuff still is important in some of the so-called "fault" states.

2007-09-04T12:26:00.000-05:00

Once you've been held in contempt of court, you need to be doing what a judge tells you or you may be going to jail. If it's pay child support, do it; keep a job diary, do it; come to court, do it. If not, you're going to be in jail and that doesn't do anyone any good.

2007-08-22T12:35:00.000-05:00

Saw this new bill introduced in Springfield:

Orders of protectionPublic Act 95-234 (Fritchey, D-Chicago; Haine, D-Alton) authorizes a judge to include protecting animals as part of an order of protection. Effective Jan. 1, 2008.

I admit I'm sort of anti-pet personally, but isn't this taking things a bit too far?

2007-08-22T12:32:00.001-05:00

Here's a map of gay marriage across the U.S.

2007-08-18T12:26:00.000-05:00

Saw a lot of stories this week regarding the denial of U.S. passport due to child support arrearages. Here are the State Dept. regulations. Nothing new I just think with the tightening up on travel even between Mexico and Canada it's becoming a larger problem for child support deadbeats.

2007-08-18T12:21:00.000-05:00

Here's a post about a 14-year-old who couldn't get into a suburban Chicago high school while living with her grandmother. Legally, why in the world didn't the grandmother become the girl's short-term guardian? It's simple and you can do it without court intervention.

The state legislature had talked about extending these to 360 days from the current 60 days...not sure if that happened or not.

2007-08-10T07:18:00.000-05:00

Here's a link to a story about a custody stand-off in McHenry County. Take a read...seemingly the issue was basically about a non-custodial father wanting more visitation.

The dispute apparently revolved around Gitchel (father) wanting further visitation with his daughter, police said.

What to do in this situation? Well, if you're the non-custodial parent I'd recommend having a certified copy of the court's visitation order with you at your pick-up time. Calling the police is an option because visitation abuse IS a criminal violation...however it should be a last resort. Probably a first step to avoid this type of blow-up would be to have visitation pick-up/drop-off at a neutral location which could be the police station.

2007-08-03T16:10:00.000-05:00

Interesting recent case holding:

Crank v. Crank, No. 3-06-0907. Section 505(g-5) of Income Withholding for Support Act does not limit the amount that can be withheld from obligor's wages, for payment of support and maintenance arrearage after emancipation of children to the amount that had been withheld for current support before emancipation. Pursuant to federal Consumer Credit Protection Act, incorporated in Illinois Income Withholding for Support Act, maximum withholding for support and maintenance is 50% of obligor's wages if he or she has a dependent spouse or child, and 60% of ogligor's wages if not. Therefore, $300 per week (50% of wages) order, on arrearage exceeding $200,000, is neither illegal nor improper.

**Rememer, there is a maximum limit to how much child support a person can pay based on a percentage of income...don't overpay!!

2007-08-01T10:00:00.000-05:00

A couple of informative new postings over at the Illinois Legal Advocate. There's one on developing a visitation plan and another on advising domestic violence victims.

2007-07-12T10:16:00.001-05:00

Nothing like a good old visitation fight to make headlines for Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher. Seems that the mother of Brian's child has been denying him visitation so he filed a Rule to Show Cause to find her in contempt. Judge ordered parenting class for both of them.

Nothing out-of-the-ordinary legally just amusing to see what I do daily in the headlines. Classy guy that Brian.

2007-07-07T14:44:00.001-05:00

A rare victory described by a Plaintiff in an Alienation of Affections law suit.

A Cook County jury ordered Blinov to shell out $4,802 last week after he was sued by a suburban Chicago husband for stealing the affections of the man’s wife.

That law is still on the books...rarely used.

2007-06-23T13:19:00.000-05:00

Ignore all the Cicero "garbage"...interesting piece to know about Orders of Protection. Ostensibly the Order was entered based only on threatening voice-mails. It's likely "harassment" under the Domestic Violence Act.

2007-06-09T12:12:00.000-05:00

An interesting service I've come across:

This company provides this information on many "facilities" and more. You can check out the website for more information.

I have interviewed Ms. Donovan and I am aware of her background. She is eminently qualifiedfor this service. I would suggest anyone doing elder care check out this service.

Andrea Donovan Senior Living Advisors
www.adsla.biz
andrea_donovan@yahoo.com
708-442-7174

2007-06-05T09:57:00.000-05:00

Informative piece about a caretaker bilking an older man of more than $1 million dollars.

2007-06-04T13:38:00.000-05:00

Here's an interesting piece about a high-income Chicago couple and the division of marital property in their dissolution of marriage case. Essentially one of the spouses started a business that became quite successful. The article talks like it's a "suprise" that the wife was awared 50% of the marital assets...from my perspective the bigger suprise is that she wasn't awarded more. It seems like a classic one-breadwinner and one homemaker marriage...typically the homemaker with less ability to earn future income gets the imbalanced verdict in her or his favor.

2007-05-26T12:30:00.000-05:00

Here's a link regarding the re-introduced Civil Unions bill in Illinois. I don't know why the measure isn't getting more media attention. The IL State Bar Association seems like they're going to actively support this bill just from reading some of the list serves that I'm on.

2007-05-11T14:52:00.000-05:00

Here's a piece about lowering divorce rates in the U.S. It's a misleading article though, it's only looking at # of divorces per 1,000 people. What it's really saying is that fewer people are getting married and thus fewer people are getting divorced.

I'll wait to see the numbers on pecentage of divorces compared to marriages began.

2007-05-09T16:44:00.000-05:00

A racy ad for a Chicago divorce lawyer got a ton of publicity...here and here.

The city of Chicago has taken down a racy billboard that proclaimed "Life is short. Get a divorce." The billboard featured photos of a scantily clad woman and a shirtless man and was an ad for Chicago divorce attorney Corri Fetman.

As someone who practices a good bit of family law, I've never seen nor heard of Ms. Fetman. Sadly I see this perspective as the majority view of family law practitioners. I disagree with it personally. I'm in the field because I think family break-up is tragic and also because it places people and their children in a very vulnerable position. I think I can bring some effective advocacy and a little light to these dark situations. My $.02.

2007-04-26T14:22:00.000-05:00

Ever had a wedding called off? Try this...breach of promise to marry, 740 ILCS 15/1.

2007-04-26T14:11:00.000-05:00

Further reasons to use a lawyer regarding even the most simple dissolution of marriage. Why?

Because of the HUGE post-divorce ways that you can screw-up your life. Two things I see, one all the time and a new one from this week.

First, child support obligors who don't understand how child support works. They fail to stop the support in the event of a job loss or an income decrease and next thing you know they're 20,000 behind in child support payments.

Second, saw this one up close this week, it was a mother who frankly didn't understand mediation. Long story short is that she refused to attend mediation with her former husband as was required by the joint parenting agreement. One thing she did was send her son to another country without the approval of the father and she refused to mediate the issue. She ended up getting held in contempt of court and paying the father's attorneys fees.

A judgment for dissolution of marriage is a document with staying power...sometimes for 20+ years. It's not a one time thing get it entered and done. One must know how to "use" the judgment or you can get trapped (and worse)!

2007-03-31T13:32:00.000-05:00

Interstate child support cases can be tough and even more so when the various state departments of public aid are involved. Often what makes these doubley tough is that lawyers haven't been involved too much and the clients may be confused about procedures.

I have a tough one right now where my client was getting charged for child support in IL continuously for the entire time that the child lived with the mother. IL support was never stopped. Meanwhile, the mother moves to MN and applies for public aid up there. So MN support starts to run against the father, our client. Recently, custody of the son gets changed to our client. Now the problem is that both IL and MN are trying to collect on arrearages for overlapping times. Adding to the frustration is that for one of the periods MN is trying to collect, the child had actually been with the father. We may be able to wipe that period out by providing MN w/ proof the child's school records in another state.

Pretty interesting situation though. It sure seems like it's ripe for abuse by parents who falsely claim that they're entitled to child support and then the state goes after the other parent (like this case).

2007-03-30T17:44:00.000-05:00

A FL court ruled that a woman's sex change did not require a modification of alimony payments from her (his) former husband...here's a link. Haven't seen one of these in IL but the result seems right. It's still the same person, right?

2007-03-28T13:27:00.000-05:00

Here was a piece from the Sun-Times jailing an obligor dad for over $218,000 in back child support.

2007-03-10T14:16:00.000-06:00

Here's one way to "divide" marital property from Reuters...

BERLIN - A 43-year-old German decided to settle his imminent divorce by chain sawing a family home in two and making off with his half in a forklift truck.

Police in the eastern town of Sonneberg said on Friday the trained mason measured the single-story summer house — which was some 8 meters (26 feet) long and 6 meters wide — before chain sawing through the wooden roof and walls.

"The man said he was just taking his due," said a police spokesman. "But I don't think his wife was too pleased."

I've had a couple of nasty cases I've been involved with lately sort of similar to the above. I think my mind has been changed a bit from thinking that parties in a divorce generally put their self-interest above all else. Often I see that hurting the opposing party comes even before one's self-interest.

2007-03-03T09:46:00.000-06:00

Dealt with an interesting situation recently that came out well for our client...the issue is when does a child become emancipated and thus the child support obligation stops.

My case dealt with a child who had just turned 18 and it was a question of whether or not he was still attending school. We filed a petition to terminate support when the child turned 18 because he'd dropped out of school but the mother kept coming into court trying to show that the child was still in school. Eventually we subpoenaed a GED provider and they said the kid was out of the program so we got support stopped effective at the child's 18th birthday.

Remember when child support stops...I think there are a lot of misperceptions out there. It stops at one of four possible times:

A) Child turns 18. This was my case above. If you have a child NOT attending high school it stops when he/she turns 18.

B) Child graduates high school. This is likely the most popular option. Most kids graduate high school during their 18th year; support should terminate at the same time the child graduates high school.

C) Child turns 19. If a child is still in school when he/she turns 19, support should time at the 19th birthday.

D) Child is emancipated. This is rare but I do hear it come up every so often. This situation is when a child essentially would be self-sustaining or married prior to his/her 18th birthday. Or perhaps he/she joined the military.

2007-03-03T09:26:00.000-06:00

Saw this nugget in the Tribune recently, Single Parent Properties. Essentially it's a mortgage brokerage that focuses on helping single parents and recent divorcees.

The bigger issue I think is that people don't change their lifestyles enough post-divorce. In many situations, the parties' income has just been cut in half and yet people often think they can live in the same home and neighborhood, ect. And that's leaving aside the risk that the obligor/payer parent (child support, ect.) doesn't pay support regularly...then it's even worse.

Taking a good hard look at your financial life immediately upon a divorce and possibly sitting down with a financial advisor is time well spent.

2007-02-24T12:46:00.000-06:00

One of the toughest intersections I face in family law is when a family law case also involves an active bankruptcy case...and the most common reason for divorce is $$. I'm not a bankruptcy expert. I typically consult another attorney or two when I have these cases just to make sure I'm doing everything right. I think in the future it might be wise to even co-counsel with another attorney who's a pure bankruptcy lawyer.

All that to mention a horrible experience we're having that mostly stems from the fact that our Cook County Domestic Relations judge didn't know her bankruptcy law and she gave us a totally unworkable judgment. She essentially didn't know that before a marital residence got sold that the parties' Chapter 13 plan would have to be paid off. She thought that we could just sell the marital residence and split the proceeds and then my client could just keep paying the Chapter 13 plan all-the-while. So now we're stuck and we're back in court trying to get the Judgment modified...what a waste!!

Be better than this judge in your practice!!

2007-02-19T16:41:00.000-06:00

Child oft support's forgotten basics...

I get about one call per week (and often a new client) that relates to a terrible problem for payors of child support...could this be you?

Sadly, 90% of these cases were people who did not use an attorney when their initial divorce was finalized. And it always goes back to this basic fact about one's child support obligation, your child support obligation DOES NOT STOP UNLESS YOU GET INTO COURT TO STOP IT!! It does not get lowered unless you get into court to lower it! And I'm always getting these, usually father's, coming in either after they've been put in jail for contempt of court or they're some $30,000 in the whole on back child support. And my sad answer in 99% of cases is that I can't do anything about the back child support. Once child support hasn't been paid for 30 days, it becomes a Judgment against that person and Peter the Lawyer nor the judges in these cases can do anything about it.

So gang, let's be smart, if you become unemployed or you have an income drop, get into court and modify your child support downward. Don't chince on a lawyer for this type of thing...it's a 1 or 2 court appearance thing and it's not going to cost you an arm and a leg.

2007-02-10T11:30:00.000-06:00

If you're a lawyer who works in the family law field this is nothing new to you. If you're someone who pays child support through the IL Dept. of Healthcare and Family Services...LOOK OUT!

This just happened to our client:

We represented a gentleman in some matters related to modifying child support. Judge enters an order that says client must pay X in current support and Y towards an arrearage. It's right there in a court order. Now, some 2 months later, client's employer gets a Notice of Withholding from IDHFS that is inconsistent with the court order...OF COURSE IT'S HIGHER. If I did this as a lawyer, I think I could lose my law license. But since it's this big state bureaucracy, they're almost bullet-proof. This case is in court later this month and I'm going to ask either that this client's child support cannot be paid through a Notice of Withholding OR that there's specific language in the order that says something like any Notice of Withholding must be consistent with this court order or it's not enforceable.

I'm hearing rumblings about a class action suit against IDHFS...tell me your stories and maybe we can do something about this.

2007-02-01T12:39:00.000-06:00

Today's Sun-Times has a note about Orders of Protection being available online in Kane County. The piece reads like a petitioner would be able to file his/her case online and then show up for court for the actual hearing. Perhaps a good thing...

I'm against domestic violence but I'm also a family lawyer who knows that Emergency Orders of Protection are the most abused cause of action in the whole family law field, so I'm leery.

2007-01-30T12:53:00.000-06:00

There was a useful nugget here from January's ISBA Bar Journal. The piece includes appropriate admonishment of lawyers to not take sides in a divorce. And also to control your client...don't go along with what he says.

The crux of piece focuses on important issues of IL family law...i.e. that we're a so-called No Fault state. If you've lived separate and apart from your spouse for two years, you can get divorced without any other reason. Also, conduct is not supposed to be considered regarding custody unless the conduct somehow effected the child.

Remember (from the article)...

The moral issue is often, if not usually, of great significance to the "innocent" party. This is understandable, and you should acknowledge your client's feelings. The Judeo-Christian tradition is that wrongs are punished. Often the client feels robbed of closure because his or her ex is not punished.

But Illinois law is a no-fault state. We lawyers should not lose our objectivity by over-identifying with the client. Doing so only magnifies any unrealistic expectations the client has about the outcome.

As an aside, there's nothing more wasteful and upsetting than an opposing attorney/client who's out of control or who's expectations haven't been "shaped" by a competent attorney. I've had a couple cases recently where the opposing client has started yelling at my client and sometimes at me...totally inappropriate and not professional.

2007-01-25T17:51:00.000-06:00

This is real proposed legislation folks:

Family law courts House Bill 397 (Flowers, D-Chicago) requires the chief judge of each circuit to establish a separate family division to hear all family law cases (custody, child support, or State action concerning fitness). Authorizes a right to trial by jury in family cases.

Nothing like adding a little fuel to the fire in the tranquil world of family law, right?

2007-01-20T09:29:00.000-06:00

Here's another poignant piece from the Times regarding grandparent custody/visitation issues related to the 9/11 attacks. It's a hot issue everywhere.

2007-01-16T15:27:00.000-06:00

Just sort of a general interest piece from the Times today regarding the fact that now 51% of all U.S. adult woman do not live with a spouse. This is the first time this figure has accounted for more than 1/2 of all U.S. woman. It's essentially drive by three trends:

1. Woman outliving men (life-span issues);

2. Woman (and I suppose both genders) getting married later;

3. Higher divorce rate;

I don't think these trends are anything new...it's newsworthy only because it's more than half now. More thoughts on legal and public policy impact to come...

2007-01-13T09:12:00.000-06:00

Interesting piece in the Times regarding decreasing levels of international adoptions as countries such as the Ukraine and Russia have become unstable.

2007-01-12T17:59:00.000-06:00

This is just a little nugget about two very unique cases that I've dealt with in the last six months. One went for me and one against. The issue: did a court have jurisdiction over the party in a case originally so that it was proper for the court to rule on anything, such as child support?

The two cases I've dealt with recently were alleged back child support cases and in both cases, the father's have successfully found deficient service of process to get out of thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars in back child support. If you're working with some one accused of not paying child support, look back at the entire court file to see if things were done right up front. It's a method to totally get out of alleged back child support OR to negotiate a low settlement figure. I'm in a position now to vacate a divorce judgment from 1985 because there wasn't good service of process up front. The opposing client may find herself married to my client all over again when she thought she got divorced 22 years ago!!

Remember, there are only three ways a court can obtain jursidiction to order someone to pay child support:

1. Service of Summons by the Sheriff or private process server;

2. Filing of a voluntary Appearance;

3. Participation in the litigation...i.e., 1 or 2 didn't happen but the party was active in the litigation.

If there's not one of these in place, you've got yourself a problem (or a defense) depending on your perspective.

2007-01-12T16:50:00.000-06:00

Here's another piece regarding that grandparent visitation case...oral arguments were yesterday in Springfield.

2007-01-08T16:10:00.000-06:00

Here's an interesting piece from The Peoria Journal Star regarding a pending grandparent visitation case before the Illinois Supreme Court. Briefly, the two childrens' father died and subsequently the mother has strictly limited the grandparents' visitation.

Question, do grandparents have a constitutional right to visitation with grandchildren if one of the parents says no?

Another chapter in the ever-changing Illinois grandparent visitation scene.

2007-01-05T13:01:00.000-06:00

I've just become involved with a very interesting case regarding Section 513 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Here's part of the statue:

Sec. 513. Support for Non‑minor Children and Educational Expenses. (a) The court may award sums of money out of the property and income of either or both parties or the estate of a deceased parent, as equity may require, for the support of the child or children of the parties who have attained majority in the following instances:

(1) When the child is mentally or physically disabled and not otherwise emancipated, an application for support may be made before or after the child has attained majority.

The big question is, what is "disabled"? The mother in this case is saying that the daughter is disabled with ADHD and some mild depression. It's early, but my gut instinct is that this is not "disabled" within the definition of Section 513.

2007-01-05T12:51:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone. My name is Peter Olson and I'm an independent attorney in Chicago. Here's our firm's Website. I've started this blog to add my voice to a subject near and dear to my heart, the practice of family law in Illinois. A significant majority of my law practice is in the domestic relations field. I find it to be a rewarding field because the issues are important to people; it's not simply wealthy businesses and people fighting over small amounts of money in business transactions.

So come along for the conversation...comments are welcomed. I have two other blogs: Solo in Chicago and Closing Real Estate in Chicago.