Marriage is not for everyone; however, there are those people who enter into marriage believing they can make it work and last a lifetime. Unfortunately, even for those couples who give it their best, they may ultimately decide to divorce. Indeed, most recent statistics available show that more than 22 percent of couples marrying for the first time end up divorcing in less than five years, while 53 percent of all marriages dissolve by the 20-year anniversary. Although divorce proceedings are usually carried out in court, litigation is not always necessary to legally terminate your marriage.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

There is a growing trend for couples to use other means to resolve the issues involved in ending their marriage, and these methods are known as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Mediation is one of the most common types of ADR, and during this process, divorcing spouses will work with a third-party mediator to address and resolve all legal issues involved in dissolving their marriage. The process is confidential and non-binding. This means if one spouse does not agree with the mediator’s proposed resolution of an issue, they will not be required to follow it, and any issues that cannot be resolved may be addressed through litigation in court. The mediator can help resolve issues typically involved in divorce, such as:

In Illinois, marriage dissolution, or what is most commonly referred to as divorce, is the sole means by which a couple can legally terminate their marriage. The termination itself requires a judgment entered by the court, which a judge will issue after the couple agrees to the terms of the divorce. If the couple cannot reach an agreement, then a judge will decide the marital and child-related issues, including the allocation of parental responsibilities and other matters, such as division of property and assets or spousal maintenance (alimony). It is not unusual for one of the spouses to decide to move out of state while the divorce proceedings are going on. In some cases, circumstances such as a job transfer make the move necessary. In other scenarios, however, a spouse may decide to move in an attempt to get a better outcome or even contest the divorce. 

Challenging the Final Divorce 

Your spouse moving out of state during divorce proceedings should not prevent your divorce from becoming final. This is because once you meet the requirements for filing for divorce in Illinois, your divorce proceedings will continue until the divorce is made final by the court entering a judgment in your case.

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.

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.

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.