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If you are thinking of mediating during your divorce, I often recommend it — but that was the topic of a previous post. During this article, I will explain what mediation is in the context of divorce disputes. I will also provide some procedural details from Lake County and Cook County, IL. This is general information, not legal advice. You would need to look at the specifics of your situation to know how to proceed in any legal matter. What Is Mediation? There is an Illinois Supreme Court rul...   Read more ...  

Summer break: that unstructured stretch of the year. Without proper planning, it has the potential to become a parenting debacle. In this article, I will discuss how an upcoming divorce might change current plans and set future guidelines for summer vacation custody, even if you and your spouse will no longer live close to each other. While reading, please keep in mind that this information is not intended as advice to apply to any specific case. Your final custody agreement should be the result...   Read more ...  

Divorces aren’t easy in the most straight-forward of circumstances, but they become significantly more complex when minor children are involved. That complexity increases when one parent seeks to relocate with the child. While there are steps that must be taken, under Illinois family law, there is recourse for divorced parents who need to relocate with their children. Under Illinois family law, relocating with children after a divorce is called removal, and it is a common issue in divorce case...   Read more ...  

  Published in the Wednesday, March 13, 2019 edition of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin   Recently, I attended a lecture before seeing the play “How to Catch Creation” at The Goodman Theatre. The lecturer discussed the history of child custody over the course of the last four centuries.   He illustrated how custody laws have shifted over time along with the prevailing attitudes in society about the roles we play as parents. The child custody laws from several hundred years ago...   Read more ...  

In contested divorces that involve families with minor children, a Child Representative (Child Rep), an Attorney for the Child (AC) or a Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) may be assigned at the court’s discretion to act on behalf of those children. Child Reps, ACs and GALs are licensed attorneys. Although the court assigns the representatives to the child, the parents are typically responsible for the child advocate’s fees.   Under Illinois law, there are several variations between the re...   Read more ...  

Today I am excited to answer a question that I am asked a lot in my practice. As a father of two children who recently graduated college, I understand the importance of planning for college. It’s necessary for divorcing couples to know what the law expects of them when it comes to providing for higher education.   If you have any other questions you’d like me to address in a Q&A, feel free to submit them and I will do my best to answer in future blog posts. However, please remember...   Read more ...