Posted on March 12, 2018 in Family Law

If you are going through a divorce and have children under the age of 18, you will have to come up with a parenting plan. Since there is often confusion about what a parenting plan actually is and what to expect when one is drafted and implemented, we have decided to outline the basics in this informative article.

What Is a Parenting Plan?

A legal document that explains how a divorce impacts minor children is known as a parenting plan. It includes information on weekly parenting time, major life decisions, and other components about your children’s lives. In Illinois, a parenting plan must contain the following elements:

• Parenting time distribution: A parenting plan must outline where children will live and how much time they will spend with their other parent.
• Decision-making power: In some cases, only one parent will have the power to make important life decisions regarding their children. Other times, this decision-making power is shared between both parents. These decisions can relate to the children’s education, extracurricular activities, medical treatment, and religious upbringing.

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 Posted on March 08, 2018 in Immigration

Statistics from Safe Horizon show that one-in-four women and one-in-seven men will be severely physically abused during their lifetimes, with the majority of those instances occurring at the hands of someone in their immediate family or living situation. The figures are even higher in the immigrant community (both documented and undocumented) for many different reasons. However, many times, relief does not come as easily to immigrant victims. Many are unaware that they might even be able to apply for permanent immigration status in the United States, if they fit certain qualifications, when doing so might let them escape their abusers for good. If you are in such a situation, reviewing the criteria might possibly save your life.

Requirements to Apply

Despite the name, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) applies to anyone with nonimmigrant status, of any gender, who can prove abuse by a U.S. citizen related to them. Immigrant women are statistically more likely to experience partner violence than immigrant men—very often, it is a husband or father who establishes a residence and citizenship in the U.S. first, and then petitions for his wife and/or children, which then places them in a disadvantaged position, as their immigration status is then dependent on his. However, men do receive status under VAWA if they meet the qualifications.

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 Posted on March 05, 2018 in Personal Injury

Just how dangerous is it to use your cell phone while you are driving in DuPage County? If you are using a hands-free device while you are driving—which is legal—are you still putting yourself and others at risk of a motor vehicle crash? And if you violate Illinois law and use a handheld smartphone to talk or text while you are behind the wheel, is your risk of causing a collision significantly greater than drivers using hands-free devices or drivers who are not using cell phones at all?

A recent study conducted by the AAA Foundation for traffic safety addresses smartphone use and road safety, concluding that utilizing a cell phone while driving can significantly impair driving performance.

In other words, the report seeks to clarify once and for all that cell phone use behind the wheel does indeed greatly increase the risk of a serious auto accident. What else do you need to know about the conclusions of this study and its implications for traffic collision hazards in DuPage County?

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 Posted on March 05, 2018 in Family Law

On January 1, 2018, a new law regarding pet custody in Illinois made its debut. In the past, pets were divided between the divorced couple like furniture or a vehicle. If a spouse acquired the pet before marriage, it would be awarded to them. In the event the pet was acquired during marriage, the judge would be required to award the pet to one spouse and reimburse the other for half the pet’s value.

Now, however, a judge will be able to take the well-being of the pet into consideration before granting custody. They can consider who spent more time cleaning out a fish tank or walks and feeds the dog on a regular basis and award pet custody based on this information. Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of this new law.

Pros

Most people consider their pet as an important member of their family. In the past, spouses were hurt because pets were treated like furniture rather than a family member that deserves to be loved and cared for.

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 Posted on February 28, 2018 in Immigration

During 2017, many different experts saw fit to comment on an unusual trend— documented immigrants, such as green card holders, were becoming U.S. citizens at much higher rates than normal. This is a noteworthy trend for many different reasons—for many immigrants, full citizenship is simply not necessary for the aims they wish to carry out within the United States. For example, one does not have to be a citizen to work in the U.S., nor to study.

Another reason to comment on the citizenship trend is that obtaining full citizenship is actually difficult for many and takes quite a long time, contrary to popular perception and misinformation propagated by those not in the know.

Family-Based Applications

A large part of citizenship applications come from people who have familial reasons to want to claim it—either because they have married a U.S. citizen and want to ensure their children have no problems, or because they have a “derived” citizenship claim by virtue of one or both parents. The second category is the one used by children born to U.S. citizens located outside the country and its possessions. While it can get complex (for example, the validity of a claim sometimes hinges on whether a child’s parents were married at the time of their conception and birth), it is very possible to obtain citizenship by meeting these requirements.

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 Posted on February 28, 2018 in Family Law

The process of divorce can be expensive. In an attempt to save money, some adults decide to handle their divorce on their own. Although there are several resources that can help you file your own divorce, doing so without the guidance of an experienced divorce lawyer can lead to mistakes that can cost you a great deal of time, money, and headaches down the road. By seeking legal representation for your divorce case, you can avoid the following common mistakes that often occur in do-it-yourself divorce cases.

1. Missed Deadlines

Divorce involves filling out a significant amount of forms and attending a number of hearings. Since it can be confusing to determine what needs to be done when, you may miss deadlines that can dismiss your case or even invalidate it. An attorney can help you understand all of the specific deadlines and requirements associated with your divorce and ensure you know exactly what to do and where to be during the process.

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 Posted on February 27, 2018 in Personal Injury

One of the major causes of car accidents in DuPage County is aggressive driving. There are several different ways that aggressive driving can happen, from speeding and tailgating to incidents of serious road rage.

According to a news release from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, around 80 percent of all drivers on the road noted anger, aggression, or road rage behind the wheel at least once throughout the previous year. That information came out of a study conducted by AAA on aggressive driving and road rage, which also determined that approximately eight million U.S. drivers participated in extreme examples of road rage, such as "purposefully ramming another vehicle or getting out of the car to confront another driver."

To be clear, when aggressive driving causes an accident, the injury victim may be eligible to file a claim against the aggressive driver based on a theory of negligence.

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 Posted on February 21, 2018 in Immigration

In today’s fraught immigration climate, more and more immigrants who come to the U.S. want to be able to adjust from a nonimmigrant visa to an immigrant visa or status which will allow them to remain in the country. Normally, adjusting one’s immigration status is a fairly low-key affair. However, during the current administration, the procedure has become more intimidating. Understanding what is required can make it less so.

Are You in the U.S.?

It may seem like splitting hairs, but one important factor is that if you are not currently located in the United States, any attempt to change to an immigrant visa or green card is not called adjustment of status. Rather, it is called consular processing, because technically, a putative immigrant who is not in the United States has no status to change. Anyone abroad would simply go through normal consular processing, just for a much longer-term visa than the more common B1/B2.

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 Posted on February 21, 2018 in Family Law

Going through a divorce while raising a child with special needs can be a real challenge. Since alimony, child custody, and visitation are more complicated in divorce cases that involve special needs children, it is imperative that you make sure your divorce lawyer has a thorough understanding of your child’s needs and what your lifestyle is like with your child. Here are four tips on how to navigate divorce with a special needs child.

1. Consider a Specialized Visitation Schedule

Due to the fact that children with special needs usually require structure and consistency, a regular visitation schedule may not work for your family. You should think about how your child will travel to spend time with both you and your ex-spouse and whether they will need to bring any special equipment with them during their visits. In addition, you may need to ensure your visitation schedule is flexible because of your child’s health issues and their necessity to see familiar medical personnel.

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 Posted on February 19, 2018 in Personal Injury

A new form of technology known as the “textalyzer” has been developed to help law enforcement officials catch individuals who are illegally texting while driving. This is particularly significant news for residents of DuPage County who regularly commute into Chicago.

According to a recent report from ABC News 7, “Chicago may become the first city in the U.S. to arm its police officers with devices that will tell them immediately if motorists were texting when they got into a traffic accident.” Indeed, members of the Chicago Police Department may soon begin using textalyzers to determine whether a driver violated Illinois’s texting-while-driving law, which prohibits the use of electronic devices for texting if you are behind the wheel.

What is the textalyzer and how does it work? Can such a device actually deter drivers from texting in order to prevent motor vehicle accidents? And is such a device lawful?

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