Posted on August 27, 2019 in Family Law

The process of obtaining legal parental rights over a child that is not your own is known as adoption. Once you have done what is required and successfully completed the process, you will establish a legal family relationship between yourself and the child you are adopting. As an adoptive parent, you will have the same rights, duties, and obligations to the child as the child’s biological parents would have.

Who Can Adopt a Child?

Under Illinois law, basically, anyone of age can adopt a child provided they follow the law and meet the adoption requirements. So, it does not matter whether you are single, married, divorced, or even a same-sex couple; you can adopt—again, assuming you meet all the other requirements.

For example, if you are married, then both you and your spouse must jointly file an adoption petition. This requirement, however, does not apply if you have been separated for more than one year.

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 Posted on August 27, 2019 in Immigration

Immigration is a hot topic these days, given recent government changes to the laws and increased enforcement at the United States/Mexico border. Many U.S. citizens have family members who wish to join them here. Any U.S. citizen can help a relative become a legal permanent resident of the United States by obtaining a “Green Card.” To accomplish this, a person must sponsor his or her relative and prove that he or she has enough income or assets to support the relative once he or she enters the United States. It is important to note that if the immigrant qualifies, he or she can apply for citizenship later. If you are considering sponsoring a loved one, you need to know the necessary legal steps to take.

Requirements for Sponsorship

Obtaining permanent resident status provides a family member with the privilege of living and working in the United States permanently. The petitioner is required to show evidence to prove the familial relationship to the person for whom he or she is sponsoring. In order to sponsor a relative for permanent residency in the United States, there are several requirements that must be met:

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 Posted on August 21, 2019 in Personal Injury

One of the most difficult and traumatic experiences a person can go through is grieving the death of a loved one. When that death is due to the recklessness of another individual, it can be even more devastating for the family. While many car accidents result in property damage or injuries, far too many result in the death of one or more people. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were more than 35,000 traffic fatalities that occurred in the United States in 2017. Although nothing can bring back your loved one, Illinois does allow the families of wrongful death victims to file claims to help mitigate some of the financial burdens that an unexpected death can cause.

Filing a Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Wrongful death claims exist to allow a deceased person’s family members to claim damages that the deceased individual would have been able to claim in a personal injury lawsuit if he or she were alive. Illinois law allows surviving spouses and minor children of the deceased to file a wrongful death claim and recover damages, though this right can also be given to an adult child of the deceased or the parents of a deceased minor.

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 Posted on August 20, 2019 in Immigration

Immigration has been in the news a lot lately, especially stories about the crisis at the United States/Mexico border. Although a lot of migrants want to come to the United States, it is crucial they learn the proper terms and procedures for obtaining U.S. citizenship. Adjustment of status is the legal process for applying for permanent resident status when a person is in the United States. This is also known as applying for a Green Card. A person may obtain a Green Card without having to return to his or her home country to complete visa processing. However, if someone is outside of the United States, he or she must obtain a visa through consular processing abroad.

Steps for Adjustment of Status

There are several things a person must do before receiving a Green Card. The following are the main steps in the Adjustment of Status process:

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 Posted on August 19, 2019 in Family Law

People going through divorce usually worry about how assets such as a house, car, or retirement accounts will be divided when the divorce is final. With information and technology becoming increasingly intertwined in evolving societal norms, however, intellectual property is equally becoming an important category of assets owned by a married couple. Intellectual property includes things such as copyrights, trademarks, and patents.

Is Intellectual Property Marital Property?

Illinois law defines marital property as property, including assets and debts, the divorcing couple acquired after getting married. There are a few exceptions, but this law is broad enough to include in it nearly all property that a couple acquires after marriage. Conversely, all property acquired prior to marriage is not considered marital property, except in certain special circumstances.

Whether intellectual property is marital property depends first, on whether it was acquired before or after marriage. If the intellectual property was acquired after marriage, then there is a presumption it is marital property. However, like all presumptions, a spouse who believes it the intellectual property is not marital property can present evidence to overcome the presumption.

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 Posted on August 14, 2019 in Personal Injury

Dogs continue to be one of the most popular types of household pets for many reasons. Typically, dogs have a good-natured, people-loving demeanor, which is why they are common family pets. Even still, dogs are animals, and people often forget that they can also be unpredictable and dangerous at times. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 4.5 million individuals are bitten by dogs every year and more than 800,000 of those people seek medical treatment for their injuries. Unfortunately, children make up a rather large percentage of bite victims, around half, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

Why Do Dogs Bite?

There are a number of reasons why a dog might bite a human. Most of the time, when a dog bites someone, it is because the dog is reacting to something. The only way dogs can communicate with humans is through physical actions. Biting is often a dog’s response to a stressful or scary situation. Animals sometimes bite if they feel threatened by something. Dogs can also bite because they are sick or in pain due to an illness or injury.

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 Posted on August 13, 2019 in Family Law

After a divorce is made final, and sometimes even before that, an Illinois family court will enter an order regarding the allocation of parental responsibilities. This order controls how parental responsibilities are shared between the divorcing couple. One of these responsibilities is time shared with a child.

Determining Parenting Time

If a divorcing couple has not agreed on a parenting schedule, the court will determine how and when visitation will take place in the best interest of the child. The court will do so relying on expert opinions and considering several factors, including the following:

• Each parent’s wishes;
• Wishes of the child;
• School and extracurricular needs of the child;
• Distance between the parents; and
• Work schedules for the parents.

Exchanging Children for Parenting Time

In situations where the divorce is amicable and the divorced parents get along well, handing over or picking up a child during parental time is done seamlessly with the parents agreeing how it will be done each time. If such is not the case and the parents have to follow a court ordered schedule, then the visitation exchange is often done curbside, meaning right outside the receiving parent’s residence. If the relationship between the parents is poor, a court may order drop-offs and pickups to take place at some other location, such as a school, shopping area, park, or gas station to minimize the likelihood of a problem.

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 Posted on August 13, 2019 in Immigration

There are a lot of terms when discussing the immigration process. Naturalization is the legal process by which a non-citizen in a country can become a citizen in that country. It is important to know there are two means of obtaining U.S. citizenship. Any person born in the United States or born in another country to parents who are U.S. citizens is automatically a U.S. citizen by birthright. That person can claim his or her citizenship at any point in time. The second way someone can obtain U.S. citizenship involves naturalization, which is a legal process of certain requirements that must be met to claim citizenship.

Qualifications for Applying

After going through the immigration naturalization process, a person will have many rights of a natural-born citizen. He or she can vote, travel using a U.S. passport, run as a candidate for a U.S. government office, and seek employment with the U.S. government. The naturalization process usually begins with “lawful permanent status,” which means an individual must first obtain his or her green card. This can be done by a family member or employer sponsoring a person, among other ways. Once someone has secured a green card, he or she must obey all the laws of the United States for a set period of time, typically 5 years. Unique exceptions to some of these rules are made for military members as well as other applicants.

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 Posted on August 07, 2019 in Personal Injury

Slip and fall accidents can happen anywhere at any time. There are many reasons for slip and fall injuries, such as inadequate lighting, substances on the walkway, poor or damaged flooring, or obstacles on the floor that cause a tripping hazard. Thousands of Americans suffer from slip and fall injuries each year. According to the National Safety Council, approximately 9.2 million people were treated in emergency rooms for fall-related injuries in 2016. Although a lot of people might consider them minor, injuries from slips or falls can actually be quite severe. Common injuries from slips and falls include muscle strains, sprained ankles and wrists, bone breaks and fractures, joint dislocations, spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, and even death in certain scenarios. In many cases, these slips and falls are due to negligent property owners, but what does negligence mean, and how can it be proven?

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 Posted on August 06, 2019 in Immigration

Green cards are immigrant visas that confer permanent residence. Under the current immigration system, there are “per-country caps” put on the number of green cards issued. In certain categories, no country may receive more than 7 percent of the available green cards. Recently, the House of Representatives passed the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act of 2019 bill. The Act eliminates the per-country limit for employment-based immigrant visas, and increases the per-country limit for family-sponsored immigrant visas. The bill hopes to remove the backlogs for highly skilled workers coming from larger countries, permitting them to work and obtain permanent resident in the United States, as well as their spouses and children.

The Pros

• Increases the level of H-1B visas and employment-based green cards
• Addresses the backlog and expedites the process for permanent residency quicker.

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