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How You Can Have a Positive and Healthy Illinois Divorce
Nobody gets married with the belief that their relationship will end in divorce. Even so, more than 20 percent of marriages end within the first five years of marriage, and nearly 48 percent of marriages end within 20 years. Any divorce is difficult, and the process of dissolving your marriage can be very emotionally taxing, especially if you have been married for a long time. It is not uncommon for couples to be at odds with each other when they divorce, but it does not have to be that way. Though it may seem unlikely, it is in fact possible to have a peaceful and stress-free divorce. Here are a few ways you can complete the divorce process in a healthy and positive manner:
Make an Effort to Cooperate and Communicate
One of the most important things to remember is that communication and cooperation are two of the most crucial components of a peaceful divorce. When you and your spouse are both willing to work together, the stress of the situation is lowered significantly. Even if you are more willing than your spouse to keep the peace and work to reach a positive resolution to your case, you will be in a much better place.
3 Healthy Coping Strategies to Practice During Your Illinois Divorce
Getting a divorce is one of the most stressful life events you can experience, second only to the death of a loved one. Divorce turns your entire life upside down, from your living situation to your financial situation and everything in between. With such a huge change in life, your emotions can get the best of you, and when that happens, things can start to go downhill. While there is no getting around the pain of a divorce, there are things you can do to manage these difficulties. Here are a few healthy coping strategies that you can practice during and after your Illinois divorce:
Do Not Beat Yourself Up Over Your Emotions
The first thing you should know is that you will probably struggle emotionally. You will probably feel sad beyond belief or as angry as you have ever been in your entire life. You may experience every emotion on the spectrum in the span of a single day. It is important to know that this is all normal. No one person has the same reaction to separation and divorce, and that is okay. Remember that these things you are feeling are temporary and that you will eventually feel like yourself again.
How Do We Decide What to Do With Our Marital Home in an Illinois Divorce?
When you decide to get a divorce, there are a slew of things that must be decided. You will have to figure out where you will be living and how you will be able to afford to live on your salary alone. If you have kids, you will need to figure out how you will split parenting time with your spouse and where your children will live. One of the biggest decisions you will have to make is how you will divide your marital property. In Illinois, marital property is considered to be anything that was acquired by either you or your spouse after you were married. If your home falls into that category, you also have to figure out how you will handle ownership of your marital home.
What Is the “Right of First Refusal” in Illinois Parenting Plans?
If you are getting a divorce in Illinois, and you have children, you will automatically have more things you will have to do before you can complete the process of legally ending your marriage. When Illinois parents get divorced, they will be required to come up with a parenting plan, which will contain information on how parenting time is allocated between the parents. The parenting plan will also contain other information, such as how decisions will be made about the child’s life, how the child will be raised, and protocols to follow if there are ever any changes to the parenting plan. Though it is not required, the right of first refusal is also something that can be included in a parenting plan.
Should You Avoid Divorce and Stay Together for the Kids?
One of the hardest decisions you may have to make in your life is deciding whether or not you should stay in a married relationship that is no longer working for the sake of your children. This type of decision does not come easily and should not be taken lightly. It can take months or even years to finally feel comfortable enough to act on your decision once you have made it.
Many people believe that a divorce is the worst thing that could happen to a family that has children. While a divorce does indeed have negative effects on children, those effects are usually short-term and can be mitigated if a divorce is smooth and minimally stressful. Studies have shown that staying with your spouse when you do not love each other anymore can actually be more detrimental to children than divorce. Here are a few ways in which staying together for the kids can cause more harm than good:
Tips for Dealing With a Combative Spouse During Your Illinois Divorce
Even if you and your ex are on the best of terms, your divorce will still probably involve at least a little bit of conflict or disagreement. For couples who did not end their marriage on great terms, the stress and complexity of the divorce can increase significantly, which can affect the entire family, including your children. In high conflict divorces, one spouse will typically want to end the marriage in an equitable and calm manner, while the other spouse may not only refuse to cooperate, but they may also make it their priority to wreak havoc through the entire process. It may seem like there is nothing you can do in situations like these, but there are some steps you can take to diffuse the situation. Here are a few tips that can be helpful when dealing with a toxic ex during your divorce:
Keep Records of Everything
Being Smart About Dealing With Marital Debt During an Illinois Divorce
One of the more contentious issues that may arise during your divorce is how you and your spouse will divide your assets. In Illinois, all marital property is divided between divorcing spouses in an equitable manner, which may not always result in an “equal” division. Spouses often go head-to-head to gain ownership over assets such as the marital home, savings accounts, or other valuable belongings.
What you may not realize is that you must also divide your marital debt during the divorce process. Marital debt is any debt that you and your spouse are both legally responsible for. Figuring out what to do with marital debt can be stressful, especially because debt is one of the few things you will not be trying to keep. Here are a few tips on how you can handle debts intelligently during your divorce:
What Can I Do if My Ex Objects to Me Relocating With Our Child?
It is not uncommon for a person to move after they have finished with a divorce. While this can be a fresh start for many people, relocating can prove to be a challenge if you are a parent. When you are a parent and you get a divorce in Illinois, you are required to submit a parenting plan to the court before your divorce will be granted. In that parenting plan, the terms of your parenting arrangement, such as how parenting time is split between you and your ex-spouse, are clearly laid out. One of the things that is also included in the parenting plan is how parental relocations will be dealt with, which can become a complicated issue if one of you objects to the other’s planned relocation.
Notifying the Other Parent
Before you do anything, you should first determine whether or not your move is considered a relocation. According to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA), you must follow certain requirements if you plan to move with your child more than 25 miles away from your current home if you currently reside within DuPage, Cook, Kane, McHenry, Will, or Lake counties, or if the new home is outside of Illinois. If you currently live anywhere else in Illinois, a move is only considered a relocation if you move more than 50 miles away from your current home.
3 Ways Divorce Can Negatively Affect Your Credit Score
It should come as no surprise that a divorce comes with a lot of emotional baggage and worries. During your divorce, your living situation may change, prompting a transitional period as you readapt to your new arrangements and your new, single-income household. You may worry about your children and how they will react to the divorce. In addition to these concerns, you may also need to address your credit score and financial health. Though the act of getting a divorce does not inherently affect your credit score, the way you handle your finances during the divorce can. Here are a few ways in which a divorce can impact your credit score in a less-than-favorable way:
You Did Not Account for the Loss of One Income
One of the most drastic financial changes you will experience during a divorce is the loss of an entire income to your household’s funds. Many people underestimate the impact this can have on their financial health, especially when they have been used to running a household on two incomes for a long time. Budgeting is key when making sure you have enough money to pay for all of your monthly expenses.
What Rights Do Fathers Have in Illinois Family Law Cases?
If you are the father of a child, you may worry about what your parental rights are under Illinois law. Unmarried or divorcing fathers are often especially concerned about their parental rights and responsibilities. Although mothers often have the majority of parental responsibility and parenting time, fathers have just as many rights under Illinois law as mothers do. The law treats mothers and fathers equally, but fathers may have unique family law concerns related to paternity and other matters.
The Right to Establish Paternity
When a woman gives birth to a child, she automatically becomes the child’s legal mother. The same is not always true for a child’s father. Unmarried fathers may need to formally establish paternity in order to become their baby’s legal parent. There are three ways to establish paternity in Illinois. First, both parents may sign a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity (VAP) at the hospital where the baby was born or at a later date. Paternity can also be established through a court order or through a hearing with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services. Establishing paternity is the first step in gaining the parental rights afforded to fathers under the law. However, you will still need to file a separate petition for the allocation of parental responsibility and parenting time with the court after establishing paternity. You will also be subject to Illinois law regarding child support.
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