Recent Blog Posts
Ex-Wife of Ex-LA Dodgers Owner Asks Court to Reopen 2010 Divorce Settlement
According to a recent article in The Washington Post, former LA Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is facing a motion by his ex-wife, Jamie McCourt, seeking to reopen their October, 2010 divorce settlement, in which she received $131 million. Jamie McCourt, through her attorneys, filed her motion to set aside the divorce settlement in the Los Angeles Superior Court on September 24, 2012.
In her motion, Jamie McCourt is claiming that Frank McCourt substantially misrepresented the value of the LA Dodgers, which he sold earlier this year for $2 billion to a group of investors including former Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson. The sale price represented the highest amount ever paid for a professional sports franchise, which is particularly interesting in light of the fact that the Dodgers initiated bankruptcy proceedings in June, 2011. In those proceedings, attorneys for Major League Baseball claimed that McCourt had funded his lavish lifestyle at the expense of the Dodgers, with over $180 million in revenue taken from the club.
Premarital Agreements in Illinois
Everyone has heard that half of marriages end in divorce, so it is getting more and more common to take legal action to protect your personal assets and property. The easiest and the most common way of doing this is to have your future spouse sign a premarital agreement. Here are the basics of what the Illinois Uniform Premarital Agreement Act says about prenuptial agreements:
What is a premarital agreement?
A premarital agreement is defined in the IUPAA as "an agreement between prospective spouses made in contemplation of marriage and to be effective upon marriage." The agreement must be in writing and it has to be signed by both parties. After it is signed, it is enforceable without consideration. As with all legal contracts, you should make sure that the agreement is written properly and that you know exactly what you are agreeing to. Get an experienced family law attorney to help you with such matters.
Basics Of Custodial Rights
When you are going through a divorce, there many questions that need answered, and child custody is among the most pressing. An important aspect in this is to know what kind of custody you are looking for. According to a Huffington Post story, parents go to court, fighting for child custody, without actually knowing what the custodial arrangement they want means. A skilled family law attorney can help you with these matters.
Judge Michele F. Lowrance, a family court judge for 17 years, said that is is not uncommon for a parent asking for sole custody to not really know what it means. Parents looking for joint custody are often the same way, according to her. As are so many other issues in divorce, fighting for custodial rights is not only emotionally challenging, but it can also be very confusing.
A Stepparent Can Also Petition For Custody
The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act is the legal basis for child custody proceedings in Illinois. The Act has statutes on child custody matters in case of dissolution or invalidation of marriage, as well as for governing a case of a parent petitioning for custody in the county where they are permanent residents. The IMDMA also talks about matters that might not be as common in courtrooms, and we will look at one of these matters.
The right of a stepparent to file a petition for custody under certain conditions is part of the IMDMA. Since this is not the most common arrangement, there are conditions for these proceedings. The conditions list all of the following:
- the child is at least 12 years old
- the custodial parent and stepparent were married for a minimum of 5 years, and the child lived with the parent and the stepparent
Childless Couples Divorcing More Than Those With Children?
It is common knowledge that fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. But how often do you hear numbers from beyond that general statement? In addition to variables such as age groups and multiple marriages, there seems to be a difference in the divorce rate for couples with and without children.
Divorcerate.org follows different studies and makes estimates about the divorce rate in the United States and around the world. According to the site, couples with children have a lower divorce rate than those who do not have children. The site says that the absence of children leads to loneliness and weariness, and they suggest that 66 percent of all divorced couples in the U.S. are childless.
Vicki Larson also wrote a blog about the subject in the Huffington Post divorce section. She talks about a study in 1948, saying that the rate for childless divorce at that time was almost double the rate of families with children. Journalist Anneli Rufus also says that 66 percent of divorcees in the United States are childless.
What’s Mine is Not Yours
Divorcing is one of the most stressful life events a person can go through. According to the American Psychology Association, divorce is one of the major life events that can have serious psychological implications on both parties. Most divorces, of course, come from an already-stressful marriage. With all sorts of new challenges, such as division of property, the dueling couple might feel completely overwhelmed with the idea of separation. If you’re going through a divorce, there are some important Illinois laws regarding division of property to keep in mind.
According to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, in Illinois, "if property was acquired during the marriage there is a presumption that the property is marital." This means that even if the property is solely in your spouse’s name, it’s still considered to be jointly owned. If property was a gift, was acquired before the marriage or after a legal separation, however, it’s not considered to be jointly owned. These, of course, are important exceptions to keep in mind before even considering divorce.
Divorce and Kids
The effects of divorce on children have been studied and discussed for almost as long as divorce has been a common part of the American psyche. According to Judith Wallerstein, as reported in the Huffington Post, "divorce affects children profoundly at every age, from infancy to adulthood," and the stage at which the child is at in his life will determine his reaction to the parents’ split. As a young child, the divorcee-kid will worry that he will be replaced by one parent’s new family. According to the Huffington Post, "during adolescence they say, ‘You can hope for love but you can’t expect it.’ And when they reach young adulthood, they fear betrayal and decide no to fall in love or marry because, ‘if you don’t marry then you can’t divorce.’"
These sociological trends in children of divorced parents aren’t rocket science, but they’re important to keep in mind if you’re going through a divorce and have children. And divorce may have a deeper effect on your child than his attitude toward love and marriage: a 2011 study published by the American Sociological Review and analyzed by WebMD.com, found that "children of divorce tend to fall behind in their math and social skills and may not catch up with their peers." On the other hand, "divorce did not seem to affect the children’s reading scores or ‘externalizing’ behaviors, including how often they argue, fight, or become angry."
Cohabitation—Better for Marriage or Divorce?
Not so many years ago, in an American society that was arguably much more conservative than that of today, cohabitation before marriage was considered a recipe for marriage disaster. Despite the fact that the rate of cohabitation before marriage has steadily increased in recent decades, the idea that cohabitation before marriage can directly result in divorce is still prevalent today.
According to an Op-Ed published in the New York Times, "cohabitation in the United States has increased by more than 1,500 percent in the past half century. In 1960, about 450,000 unmarried couples lived together. Now the number is more than 7.5 million." In more than half of all modern American marriages, the couple has lived together before the wedding.
In 2001 the National Marriage Project conducted a survey that found that two-thirds of 20-somethings surveyed believed that "moving in together before marriage was a good way to avoid divorce." Yet according to the Times, "couples who cohabit before marriage (and especially before an engagement or otherwise clear commitment) tend to be less satisfied with their marriages—and more likely to divorce—than couples who do not."
Is Your Husband Trying to Hide Assets in Your Divorce Settlement?
If you’re a woman going through a divorce, you need to ask yourself two tough questions: Could your husband be hiding assets? And if he is, does that mean you won’t get the divorce settlement you deserve?
Hiding assets during a divorce is sneaky, unethical and illegal – and it happens much more frequently than most women suspect.
Unfortunately, as you go through the divorce process, your husband may try to take advantage of the situation by hiding income and/or assets. How can you tell? What steps can you take to ensure you have an accurate accounting of your family finances?
Be on the lookout for telltale signs that your husband has some dirty tricks up his sleeve and make sure you work with a qualified divorce team to ensure you have the professional expertise and support required to receive a fair settlement.
Australian Divorce Award Brings New Meaning to the Word Dirty
An Australian man is getting a dirtier divorce than he expected. The award by the judge is one of the strangest divorce case settlements one could possibly imagine.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported last Tuesday that the man, known only by his pseudonym, Mr. Moss, is being forced to dig up his parents& ashes after his ex-wife was awarded their family farm in the divorce settlement.
Mr. Moss created a memorial garden on the property after his father died in 2002. When his mother died six years later, her urn was buried on the property as well. According to an Australian newspaper, Mr. Moss was given 14 days to remove the headstones and urns from the property.
The judge reportedly granted the property to Mr. Moss& ex-wife because she was unemployed and unable to purchase a similar property within their community, unlike Mr. Moss, whose annual salary is $160,000.
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