Recent Blog Posts
Protecting Your Children’s Interests in Your Will
When you think about estate planning, you are likely to picture making arrangements for your assets and debts. Of course, determining which of your beneficiaries will receive which property is an important aspect of estate planning, it is far from the only consideration that must be made, especially if you have young children. With the proper guidance, your will can outline your wishes regarding who will care for your children in the event of your untimely death.
Considerations for Guardianship
Although it may be tough to think about, do you know what would happen to your children if you were suddenly gone? If you are married, your spouse would, of course, be responsible for caring for your children after your death. But, what if you are a single parent or you and your spouse were to both die unexpectedly at the same time? It may sound callous to make such a suggestion, but, sometimes, reality can be incredibly cruel.
Do Not Let Holiday Shopping Affect Your Ability to Pay Child Support
Although it may be hard to believe, Christmas is now less than three weeks away. In the upcoming days, shoppers around the country will hit the stores trying to find the right gifts for friends and family members. Most parents, of course, will be looking to fulfill the holiday wishes of their children, as they attempt to make the holiday season magical for their little ones. Sometimes, parents who are divorced or unmarried, however, may face financial challenges while they struggle to balance the cost of buying presents with their obligations for child support.
Tradition vs. the Law
Holiday gift-giving is a custom that dates back thousands of years. In the Christian tradition, three traveling kings—sometimes just referred to as the Three Wise Men—visited the infant Jesus bearing gifts for the child. The practice, however, is even older than that, as pagans and Ancient Romans celebrated festivals in the winter that including giving gifts to one another long before the birth of Christ.
Establishing Paternity Offers Benefits to a Child
In today’s technologically advanced society, blood and DNA testing have reached new heights and are fairly commonplace. Not only can at-home kits now give people the opportunity to learn about their heritage and health profile, the accuracy of such tests has been recognized in legal proceedings to establish certain connections for some time. One of the most typical areas in which these types of tests are used is to establish paternity between a child and a parent. The reason behind it is to formally recognize legal rights and responsibilities in the eyes of the law.
Who Are the Players?
Matters of paternity usually involve the mother of a child and an alleged father or fathers to whom she is not married. Other family members such as grandparents can also be involved in a paternity proceeding. In turn, establishing paternity then center around matters of child support, child custody (parental responsibilities) or even adoption.
Using a Trust May Limit the Reach of Probate
For many people, the first time they hear the word “trust” in relationship to financial matters is when it is used—often disparagingly—to describe a child of extremely wealthy parents. In the eyes of some working-class people, these “trust-fund kids” have things pretty easy, which may, in turn, lead to a negative connotation for the idea of a trust. Trusts, however, are extremely valuable tools with a wide variety of economic applications. When a trust, like a revocable living trust, is used in estate planning, it can dramatically ease the process of distributing the decedent’s property to his or her chosen beneficiaries.
What is a Trust?
A trust, put simply, as an arrangement that places assets and property under the care of a particular person, entity, or other third-party to be distributed to beneficiaries at some point in the future. The party responsible for managing the trust is known as the trustee and should be chosen with great care. There are many potential advantages to using a trust in place of or in addition to a traditional last will and testament.
Dealing with Visitation Interference and Other Child-Related Problems After Divorce
While, for some, divorce can completely sever all marital ties, those that share children always share a connection – namely, their child. This is as it should be since, under most circumstances, children benefit greatly from having two loving parents in their lives. Unfortunately, the continued connection between divorced parents is not always a healthy one. Some may still experience contention and other problematic issues, such as parental alienation and visitation interference. The following can help parents cope with such situations, and it provides some valuable insight on your legal rights.
When Contentiousness Abounds
Generally, parents with excessive conflict are encouraged to develop a parenting plan that limits their contact. Of course, as life changes and children grow, the original parenting plan may be difficult to adhere to, even for the most well-intentioned parents. If contentiousness is still an issue when the parenting plan starts to collapse, frustration and stress may reach an all-time high. If left unchecked, this could lead to serious arguments, bitter exchanges, and a child that feels as though they are trapped in the middle. To avoid this all-too-common issue, parents may want to use mediation to renegotiate their parenting plan so they can develop one that works amidst all the changes.
Choosing Where to File Your Divorce
Are you ready to file for divorce? Have you started putting together a list of your goals for the proceedings, including property you wish to keep and an ideal parenting plan for your children? If so, it may be time to take your completed petition for the dissolution of a marriage down to the county courthouse to begin the process. But, which county? And, does it really matter?
Residential Expectations
Under Illinois law—specifically the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act—proceedings for a divorce are expected to be held in the county in which one of the parties currently resides. You, as the petitioner, can choose to file in your county of residence or that of your spouse, but, if necessary, the court could transfer your case to another county.
Venue is not considered jurisdictional which means that no county’s authority to handle your divorce is greater than that of any other county. It also means that you cannot appeal a divorce judgment on the basis that it was heard in an inappropriate county.
Prince’s Estate Suing Streaming Service Over Music Rights
It is not uncommon for multiple areas of the law to converge all at once for in a particular situation. For example, a person facing charges of domestic violence may soon find him- or herself in family court regarding the limitation of parental rights. Such is often the case as well with many issues related to estate planning, as a failure to prepare for the future may leave the door open for a number of potential problems to arise. An example of this is now making headlines as the estate of a pop music icon is suing a digital streaming service and its parent company for copyright infringement.
Background Details
Since the death of pop superstar Prince—born Prince Rogers Nelson—in April, there has been a great deal of confusion surrounding the status of his multimillion dollar estate. Much of the controversy is related to the rights to play, perform, and distribute Prince’s music, as the artist himself was extremely selective about how his work should be made available.
Changes in Your Child’s Needs May Affect Child Support Obligations
If you are receiving child support payments from your child’s other parent, you may have come to rely on such payments. The payments you receive are intended to help you provide for your child’s basic needs, including housing, food, clothes, and other necessities of daily living. There is a good chance that you child support order also included considerations for your child’s educational and medical expenses, such as the cost of tuition, health insurance, non-covered care and other concerns. As your child grows and his or her needs change, however, you may need to revisit your child support order to see if a modification is needed.
Basic Child Support Calculations
Under Illinois law, a baseline determination for child support is done by taking into account the number of children to be supported and the supporting parent’s income. By law, either or both parent could be required to pay child support, but, in practice, such obligations are typically assigned to the parent with fewer parental responsibilities and/or less parenting time. If the parents share parental responsibilities and parenting time equally, the higher-earning spouse is likely to be required to make payments.
Your Living Will and Your Quality of Life
The likelihood of serious health issues increases dramatically as we age. To offer a quantitative example, Medicare reports that 30 percent of its expenditures each year are used on the 5 percent of its beneficiaries that die in that same year, with nearly a third of the costs accumulating during the beneficiaries’ last month of life. There are, of course, many considerations that are much more important than money, but the reality is that the best health care in the world does not allow us to live forever. This makes end-of-life planning decisions all the more important, especially as they pertain to your living will and death-delaying procedures.
What Is a Living Will?
A living will is a legal document that contains your wishes regarding the application and implementation of medical procedures that will delay your death but not necessarily heal you. Your living will is also known as an advance medical directive and is only intended to be used if or when you have been diagnosed with a terminal illness or injury. A terminal illness or injury is one that will cause death regardless of the medical care provided.
The Basics of Spousal Support in Illinois
If you are planning on filing for divorce and either you or your spouse are at a distinct financial disadvantage, the lower- or non-earning spouse may be entitled to spousal support. What exactly does this mean for your case? The following can help you understand the basics of spousal support (alimony).
When Is Spousal Support Awarded?
Spousal support is known in Illinois law as maintenance and can be awarded to any financially disadvantaged spouse. It may be needed because the wife worked as the sole or primary income earner and the husband stayed home with the children, which puts him at a disadvantage after the divorce. Alternatively, it may be awarded to a wife who has sacrificed her own education or career to advance the high-powered career of her husband. It may even be needed if one spouse became unable to work because of health issues. Whatever the situation may be, the purpose of spousal support is always the same: it is meant to temporarily or permanently offset the financial disadvantage of the lesser- or non-earning spouse may experience after divorce.
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