Posted on October 05, 2012 in Family Law

In Illinois, an annulment is called a "declaration of invalidity of marriage". It is a court order declaring that a marriage is not valid, and should not be recognized by the state. An annulment is different from a divorce because a divorce is a legal declaration that a valid marriage is over.

In Illinois there are five reasons for a marriage annulment. The grounds declaring a marriage invalid specified under Illinois law (and the time limits by which a case must be filed) are:

- Coercion or duress (the classic "shotgun wedding"). Within 90 days of learning of the condition

- Mental incapacity (either due to mental deficiencies or the influence of alcohol or drugs). Within 90 days of learning of the condition.

- Fraud. Under Illinois' annulment law, the term "fraud" refers to a fraud involving "the essentials of the marriage." That generally means the ability to have kids and has nothing to do with representations as to wealth or social standing. Within 90 days of learning of the condition.

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 Posted on October 05, 2012 in Personal Injury

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 Posted on October 02, 2012 in Personal Injury

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 Posted on September 30, 2012 in Family Law

According to an article in the Time Magazine, there is some truth to the saying that “50% of all marriages end in divorce.” However, this figure is not entirely truthful. First of all, it’s not easy to figure out divorce rates. Marital data is not collected in all states, and there are a lot of numerical differences between studies. The author of a marriage guide book and a New York Times reporter, Tara Parker-Pope, also casts doubt on the popular claim. She claims that marital stability appears to be improving every decade. For instance, in the 1970’s, 23% of college graduates who got married divorced within 10 years. Twenty years later, the rate dropped by 7 percentage points.

Another source suggests that divorce rates are age-dependent. In the 80’s, 81% of college graduates who were 26 or older and got married in that decade had not divorced after 20 years of marriage. 35% of college graduates who were younger than 26 at the time of their marriage divorced within 20 years.

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 Posted on September 29, 2012 in Personal Injury

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 Posted on September 26, 2012 in Personal Injury

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 Posted on September 24, 2012 in Family Law

It used to be that almost anything other than holding hands was strictly forbidden before marriage. However, in today’s western societies, it’s quite normal to become engaged in sexual relationships long before marriage is even considered. Television is dominated by reality shows where young singles pursue all kinds of relationships, and tabloids are full of stories about celebrities who switch partners more often than they change their underwear. In today's culture, it’s not always clear who the biological parents of a child are.  This presents many legal problems, for example, child support, custody, and paternity issues. Some cases have been reported over the years where the mother of a child has lied about who her child’s biological father is and tried to get child support payments from another man who she claims is the bio-dad. According to one study, paternal discrepancy (i.e. a child is identified as being biologically fathered by someone other than the man who believes he is the father) rates “vary between studies from 0.8% to 30%.” Luckily, a paternity test can be taken to set the records straight.

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 Posted on September 23, 2012 in Personal Injury

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 Posted on September 20, 2012 in Personal Injury

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 Posted on September 18, 2012 in Personal Injury

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