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Second Marriage Success After going through a divorce, many people pick up the pieces of their broken marriage and take on a second spouse. According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, second marriages that end in divorce last around the same amount of time as first marriages — about eight years.   Second marriages have a reputation for being shorter and more fragile than first marriages. However, this doesn’t seem to be the case based on a report from the Census Bureau calle...   Read more ...  

Children During Divorce Summer is a common time to tell children about a decision to split from a spouse or start divorce proceedings. It makes sense since kids have the entire summer to process the information without it getting in the way of completing schoolwork or clouding social interactions. However, now that kids have headed back to school it may be time to check in and see how they are doing.   Going back to school may reopen some of the wounds the summer helped to heal when it com...   Read more ...  

Effects of Reality TV on Divorce Reality TV in America plays a significant role in shaping the public’s perception of romance, relationships, and divorce. Magazines are filled with stories of the latest rumors, break-ups, and affairs among reality stars. Those who read the magazines often develop their own opinions about marriage and divorce based on those stories.   But imagine a reality star’s actions actually influencing divorce laws. That’s a pretty convincing explanation...   Read more ...  

Changes in the Divorce Rate Have you noticed a drop in the divorce rate?   If you feel like there are fewer people filing for divorce, you may be right. The latest Census has brought many new statistics and figures to the world of American families. Among of the most interesting fact (especially to a Chicago divorce lawyer) from the U.S. Census Bureau included a report that divorce rates have been dropping for most age groups since 1996 by an average of 5 percentage points.   The 1980...   Read more ...  

Facebook Relationship Status for Civil Unions In a momentous turn on Facebook as it relates to “relationship status” and  family law this year (though not quite as big as when Illinois’s Civil Union law took effect), Facebook now offers its users the option to set their relationship status to “In a civil union.”   Since its inception, the popular social networking site has allowed users to define their romantic relationships with other users in basic terms like “single,”...   Read more ...  

Civil Unions in Illinois The primary purpose of Illinois’ civil union law is to give same-sex couples the same rights and benefits allowed to heterosexual couples. Interestingly, Illinois’ law allows heterosexual couples the option of a civil union over marriage. Thus couples in marriages, civil unions, and domestic partnerships are all treated equally under Illinois law. This equality, however, does not necessarily extend outside the state, because of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (“...   Read more ...