Going through a divorce is difficult. Even if you have an amicable relationship with your soon to be ex-spouse, the process can be emotional and overwhelming. Regardless of your situation, you should remember to take care of yourself during this challenging time. This way, you can keep your physical and mental health under control. Here are seven tips for practicing self-care during divorce:

1. Get Enough Sleep

In order for your body and brain to function well, you should try to get seven to eight hours of sleep each evening. If you have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep because there is too much on your mind, try to take a warm bath, meditate, or listen to some soothing to relax your mind and get you in the mood for sleep.

Divorcing parents have the right to collaborate and come up with a parenting plan that works for both of them. If they cannot come to an agreement, a judge will look at what is in the best interests of the children and design a parenting plan.

In many divorces, the goal is to give both parents close to equal parenting time. This way, each parent can play an active role in their children’s lives and children can be raised by both of their parents. Parenting time is granted to both parents unless there is some type of child endangerment issue.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for one parent to try to withhold parenting time from their ex-spouse. Let us dive deeper into what it means to withhold parenting time and what your options are when your ex takes away from your time with your children.

The majority of divorcing couples understand the purpose of child support and spousal support. However, only few have heard of and are familiar with unallocated support. Unallocated support can benefit both parties and is an effective way to settle support issues in some divorce cases.

Unallocated Support Defined

An unallocated support payment combines child support and spousal support. It is a viable option when the spouse paying the support has a substantial income and the spouse receiving it has minimal to no income.

While most people are familiar with divorce, many are unaware of annulment. An annulment states that a marriage never legally happened. Although it is more difficult to qualify for an annulment than a divorce, an annulment makes sense in some situations. Let’s take a closer look at what an annulment is and how it differs from a divorce.

Annulment Qualifications

Anyone may file for divorce. Annulments, however, are only an option for couples that meet certain criteria. Your marriage may qualify for annulment if:

• You or your spouse could not consent to the marriage due to a mental disability, alcohol, drugs, or fraud.
• You or your spouse did not have the ability to engage in sexual intercourse during the marriage.
• Your or your spouse were under 18 years of age and there was no parental consent at the time of your marriage.
• Your marriage was not legal because you or your spouse was already married or you are relatives.

There is also a time limit for when you can request an annulment. This time limit depends on your particular circumstances.

• If you or your spouse did not consent to marriage because of mental disability, alcohol or drugs, you have 90 days from the time this was discovered to file for an annulment.
• A parent has the right to file for an annulment of their minor child’s marriage any time before they turn 18.
• If you or your spouse did not have the ability to engage in sexual intercourse and this was not known at the time of marriage, you have one year to file for an annulment.
• If you or your spouse were involved in multiple marriages, there is no time limit for an annulment.

How Annulment Differs From Divorce

Even though an annulment establishes that a marriage never took place, it offers the same end result as a divorce: the legal end to a marriage. However, in an annulment, there is no property division or alimony because the marriage is deemed to never have existed.

If your marriage was short, this may not have any impact on you. In the event your marriage lasted for a longer time frame, you may be missing out on your right to assets accumulated during your marriage. It is important to note that if you had children during your marriage, child custody, visitation and child support still apply because an annulment does not negate their legitimacy.

Contact Our DuPage County Divorce Attorneys

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: