Posted on June 06, 2012 in Divorce

Stranger things have happened, but could you imagine checking into a hotel on a Friday married and checking out Sunday divorced without having stepped outside during your stay?

Well, a Netherlands entrepreneur is trying to make divorce that simple in America, and hopes to open up several divorce hotels in the United States. The idea is that a couple can check into a Divorce Hotel, and with the help of mediators and on staff divorce lawyers, divide their property up and settle custody issues within a 48 time period.

If you are going through a divorce, or if you are already divorced, you are probably thinking- yeah right. Emotions ride high during divorce proceedings, lots of financial documents need to be reviewed, and clients should fully explain to their attorneys exactly what they expect out of the divorce. A 48 hour period to get that all done is just not practical. Even if this is something you want to do, imagine how difficult it would be to persuade your soon-to-be ex to go away with you to a ritzy hotel, only to get a divorce. If you cannot agree on other marital issues, how will you agree to take this weekend get-a-way together?

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 Posted on June 03, 2012 in Divorce

If you are going through a divorce and currently get your health insurance through your soon to be ex-spouse, you probably have a lot of unanswered questions regarding health insurance and whether you may continue to be covered under your former spouse's employer sponsored group health benefits.

Under federal COBRA law, your spouse's employer may need to continue providing you with health benefits. Further, Illinois state has a law that is formally known as Spousal Continuation Coverage, but is sometimes referred to as mini-COBRA. According to the Illinois Department of Insurance, Illinois' law provides protections similar to that of the federal law, but may apply to more employers than the federal law does. For example, federal COBRA applies only to employers that have a certain number of employees, while Illinois' spousal continuation law applies to all employers that offer fully insured group and accident health plans. However, this law does not apply to employers who are self-insured.

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 Posted on May 30, 2012 in Child Custody

According to the Chicago Tribune, the number of U.S. commuter marriages continue to rise, reaching an estimated 3.5 million couples aged 18 years or older in 2011. The U.S. Census Bureau states that this figure has increased by approximately 17% since 2001. One major factor that may contribute to the rise in commuter marriages is the weak economy and job loss, which may cause a spouse to seek employment far away from home.

In the typical commuter marriage, one spouse stays in the couple's primary home, while the other spouse spends a significant amount of each week or month in a rented apartment or home near his or her workplace, which is often in another state altogether. Some spouses save costs by rooming with other commuters, staying in family homes, or other alternative arrangements. Nonetheless, the costs of constant travel, double utilities, double rent, extra childcare and domestic help, and dual state taxes still add up considerably. Still, many couples insist that the commuter marriage still makes them better off financially, even considering the dual living and transportation costs.

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 Posted on May 29, 2012 in Divorce

USA Today reports that the marriages of approximately 79% of all couples who separate end in divorce. Ohio State University researchers recently presented their findings at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, which indicate that separation is far more common than an immediate divorce, particularly where the couple has children under the age of five.

The study also showed that the average length of an initial separation is about four years. For couples who ultimately divorced after separating, the average separation period lasted about three years. In contrast, those couples who later reunited were only separated for two years, on average. From this data, the researchers concluded that once parties were separated for a period of three years, they were highly unlikely to ever reconcile, but likely to either remain separated or divorce.

Race or ethnic group also affected whether a couple separated or divorced. Black and Hispanics were more likely to be separated than whites, and these same groups were also more likely to remain separated rather than divorce.

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 Posted on May 28, 2012 in Spousal Maintenance

All couples, regardless of their sexual orientation, should have a Trust or Living Will to protect their assets as well as make sure that their estates are executed as they wanted them to be. Illinois state law does recognize gay couples as a civil union, meaning that they are entitled to the rights of marriage. A simple will may not be enough to protect your partner at the time of your passing. A will or trust must be made if you wish for your partner to have the rights to your estate; otherwise, they have none according to the law.

A living trust helps your partner at your time of death. If you only have a Last Will and Testament, your biological family can contest it. A trust is very hard to dispute. The type of trust that a same sex couple needs is called a Living Trust. These are rarely successfully contested in courts. A Living Revocable Trust is another option for same sex couples. A trust takes effect immediately after it is signed, there is no waiting period. The person named in your trust becomes your Trustee, and carries out your wishes while managing the Trust in the event of your passing, becoming disabled or severely ill.

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 Posted on May 26, 2012 in Divorce

As we have all heard, divorce is extremely common. Some statistics even purport that one in three marriages will end in divorce. In Alabama, the Senate Judiciary Committee thinks that by simply passing a bill that they can lower the divorce rate in their state.

The Alabama legislature has proposed the Covenant Marriage Act which would request couples to sign agreements declaring that they promise to seek counseling before seeking a divorce. Signing the agreement would be voluntary.

According to Tuscaloos News, Senator Phil Williams (R) recently stated, "The bill is designed to be pro-family and it's purely optional (in) that it does not mandate….It asks people who are willing to do so (that) if their marriage comes to a divorce they will seek counseling."

For many reasons, however, it does seem that this bill will do much in lowering the state's divorce rate. The bill assumes that couples do not sincerely try to resolve their problems prior to considering or seeking a divorce. Most couples, when they get to the point that their differences are so great that they are seeking a divorce, have tried, in many different ways, to reconcile their differences. This proposed law fails to acknowledge the fact that some differences may be too great and so deep that they are not reconcilable.

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 Posted on May 25, 2012 in Divorce

With the advent of GPS devices and smart phones, the age old art of snooping on one's spouse during divorce proceedings has hit a new technology fueled high.

Even celebrity spouses admit to using texts when they suspect their significant others of cheating. Actress Eva Longoria recently revealed that she learned of her husband's infidelity after discovering hundreds of text messages sent to him by another woman.

Facebook is another popular source for snooping on a spouse. Many spouses use the site as a way to search out and rekindle old flames, which can lead to infidelity. During the discovery portion of a divorce proceeding when documents are examined and exchanged, a person's Facebook history is often one of the easiest places to find evidence of infidelity.

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 Posted on May 24, 2012 in Divorce

An interesting study done by European economists alleges that the higher divorce rates in the United States play a part in the fact that overall, American woman work many more hours than women in other countries.

The Washington Post reported on the study, which was based upon earlier research showing that Americans on average work 30% more hours than their European counterparts. There have been many theories as to why that's the case, and this study, done by Vox, confirms that the lower labor tax rates are relevant to why American men work more. However, the researchers concluded that the significantly higher divorce rates in the U.S. are a primary reason that American women put in more hours. The study purports that American woman seem to recognize the likelihood of divorcing, and thus make more of an effort to climb up the career ladder in case they end up supporting themselves.

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 Posted on May 22, 2012 in Pet Custody

It is common to hear about soon to be ex-spouses fighting over custody of their children, but it is much less common to hear about a couple fighting for legal custody of their shared pets. Pet custody battles, however, do happen and are actually on the rise. According to a story in USA Today, in a survey conducted in 2006, one fourth of the attorneys who responded to the survey believed that pet custody cases had substantially increased in a five year period.

A battle over who has custody over a pet is quite different than a battle over custody of children. The laws in all states view pets as property, and of course, children are not viewed as property under the law. When there are children involved, it is common for judges to award custody over the pet to the parent who has custody over the child. On the other hand, when there are no children involved, the award of custody over the pet becomes more like a property split – as if the pet were a house or a vehicle.

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 Posted on May 20, 2012 in Divorce

Until you are faced with your own divorce, most people have no idea about even the most basic Illinois divorce laws and requirements. In the state of Illinois, divorce may be based on a specific grounds, or reason that justifies the divorce, or simply based on a no-fault provision, which requires that the parties be separated for two years prior to the divorce being finalized, unless they agree in writing to waive the separation period. The no-fault reason is referred to as irreconcilable differences. If the parties want to
choose a fault-based reason for the divorce, they may choose any of the following:

• Impotency of either spouse
• Either spouse already married and not divorced or widowed at the time of this marriage
• Adultery
• Desertion without reasonable cause for at least one year
• Habitual drunkenness for two years
• Excessive use of addictive drugs for two years

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