Posted on May 16, 2025 in Family Law

Perhaps your ex has been given parenting time in the form of one weeknight per week and every other weekend. Yet, virtually every time it is his time to spend time with your two young children, he simply does not show up. In some cases, he may offer an excuse after the fact, but he appears to have zero interest in seeing his children to the point where you do not even expect him to show up anymore.

You move on with your life and meet a man whom you marry. He treats your children as his own, and you are now wondering whether you can have your ex-spouse’s parental rights terminated, allowing your husband to adopt the children. You may be surprised to find that the court is not as amenable to  terminating parental rights as you expected.  

While the ex in this case could agree to voluntarily have his parental rights terminated, allowing the new husband to adopt the children, Illinois has very specific grounds for the involuntary termination of parental rights. A family law attorney can help you explore your options and have your questions regarding the termination of parental rights answered.

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 Posted on May 16, 2025 in Divorce

Cryptocurrency is a type of digital currency that allows people to make payments to one another through an online system. There is no legislated or even intrinsic value in cryptocurrency – it is worth what people are willing to pay. Undoubtedly, cryptocurrency is one of the hottest investments, even though some investors are not entirely sure how it works. The projected revenue in the cryptocurrency market worldwide is expected to reach 45.3 billion in 2025, and the number of cryptocurrency users is expected to reach 861 million.

Illinois is an equitable division state, which means that marital assets are divided fairly, although not necessarily equally. Under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA), virtually all assets gained by either spouse after the marriage occurs are considered marital property, subject to equitable division during a divorce. The only time cryptocurrency would be considered non-marital property is when one spouse purchased it before the marriage or purchased it with inherited funds.

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 Posted on April 30, 2025 in Sexual Harassment

When a workplace is toxic as a result of chronic sexual harassment, the productivity of the employee being harassed decreases. Further, sexual harassment significantly affects job satisfaction and can lead to sexually harassed employees disengaging. One study places the loss of productivity from sexual harassment at $2.62 billion and found that women who had reported sexual harassment felt the harassment significantly undermined their job performance and job satisfaction.

Despite legislation that aims to reduce the incidence of sexual harassment in the workplace, it remains an ongoing issue experienced primarily by women – although men can be sexually harassed on the job as well and often are. If you are facing sexual harassment in the workplace, speaking to an Illinois sexual harassment attorney can be the best step you can take to protect your rights and your future.

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 Posted on April 30, 2025 in Divorce

A divorce may go relatively quickly if both spouses agree on all the decisions that must be made during the process. However, when there are disagreements about marital asset division, spousal support, the allocation of parental responsibilities, or parenting time, a divorce can drag out for months—or even years.

Other family law issues, such as determining paternity, can also take time. Most people are familiar with the concept of statutes of limitations in civil lawsuits and criminal prosecutions. A statute of limitations is the time limit a person has to sue based on the date the accident occurred.

Statutes of limitations can also be a time limit for prosecutors for various aspects of criminal charges. While family law issues do not generally have statutes of limitations, they can have time limits. If you have questions regarding how long your family law issues can legally take and whether time limits are involved, your Wheaton, IL family law attorney can help.

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 Posted on April 04, 2025 in Sexual Harassment

Remote workplace sexual harassment can take many forms, such as a remote worker sending inappropriate text or e-mail messages, unwelcome or unwanted video calls with a sexual overtone, or social media messages to another remote worker. These forms of sexual harassment may also come from a supervisor to a remote worker.

Sexual harassment is much less visible among remote workers, with witnesses to the harassment rare. Those who are sexually harassed in a remote work situation, as well as employers of remote workers claiming sexual harassment, may not be entirely sure how to handle the situation. The best course of action is to speak to an experienced Wheaton, IL sexual harassment lawyer.

How Can Employers of Remote Workers Prevent Sexual Harassment?

It is important that employers who have remote workers foster a culture of respect, which should be reinforced through regular education and training.  Even though workers are remote, each worker is required to be trained, under Illinois law,  regardless of whether he or she is based in Illinois.

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 Posted on April 04, 2025 in Family Law

Virtually every divorce comes with its own set of challenges. A divorcing couple who has frozen embryos, known as assisted reproduction technology (ART), may have even bigger challenges. The 2015 Illinois Parentage Act provides guidelines for resolving ART disputes, defining legal parentage, and clarifying the rights of genetic contributors and the intended parents.

However, for a divorcing couple, the questions may include whether the frozen embryos are treated as children or whether they are considered "property." While Illinois law does offer certain guidelines, each case is unique and will depend on the specific circumstances. If you and your spouse are divorcing and you are unsure how frozen embryos will be addressed during the divorce, speak to a knowledgeable Wheaton, IL family law attorney for guidance.

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 Posted on April 04, 2025 in Family Law

Jerry and Sue divorced several years ago. Since Jerry moved to a neighboring state after the divorce, Sue was given the right to make decisions on behalf of their son, Cody, under the allocation of parental responsibilities. Jerry has parenting time one weekend per month, but now that Cody is a teenager, scheduling conflicts mean he sees Cody every two or three months.

Jerry receives a call from Sue telling Cody and some friends vandalized a neighbor’s property. Under the Illinois Parental Responsibility Statute, Cody’s parents are responsible for covering the costs of the vandalism. Since Jerry rarely sees Cody and had no idea that Cody had been in some minor trouble for graffiti prior to this, he feels he should not be responsible for the costs.

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 Posted on March 27, 2025 in Divorce

Divorce can be a long, difficult, emotional road that is full of uncertainty for many. For some couples, divorce is just as full of disagreements and arguments as their marriage was, and the only thing they want is to have it over and done. For others, divorce is just incredibly sad. After all, this is the person they were once in love with and expected to spend the rest of their life with.

Regardless of whether the divorce is contentious, heart-breaking, or one of the few that is relatively friendly, the death of one spouse during the divorce can bring an entirely new set of emotions. Everything changes when your spouse dies during the divorce. Even something as simple as dealing with expressions of condolence from others can leave you filled with uncertainty. How do you grieve someone you were in the middle of divorcing, especially if the two of you were not even on good terms?

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 Posted on March 27, 2025 in Divorce

Perhaps you and your spouse divorced a year or so ago, and he is paying child support for your four young children. He has parenting time with the children and has been very good about paying child support and keeping the children on his health insurance plan through his employer. An unexpected accident ends in his death. While you may be devastated that your children have lost their other parent, you are also apprehensive about how you will support your children on your own, absent child support and health insurance.

Is the parent’s estate responsible for child support? The death of a spouse who pays spousal support usually ends that support, absent an agreement to the contrary. Child support is usually considered a different matter, as there is a strong public policy protecting minor children. If you need assistance determining whether your ex-spouse’s estate will be responsible for continuing to pay child support, speak to a knowledgeable Wheaton, IL family law attorney.  

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 Posted on March 27, 2025 in Sexual Harassment

During COVID-19, American workers and American businesses had to rethink the way their employees worked. Before the pandemic, some companies had already begun trending toward remote work. After realizing remote work had been a success, many companies continued having their employees work remotely, while some went to a hybrid of some days in the office and some working from home.

Today, remote work remains a significant part of the employment landscape, and as remote work technologies continue to develop, this trend is likely to grow. While remote work offers flexibility for employees and lower overhead costs - along with a potentially broader talent pool - for employers, there are some remaining challenges. One of these is how to address sexual harassment in a workplace that is either partially or largely remote.

Sexual harassment can be both more subtle as well as less visible for remote workers compared to in-office settings where there are other employees who can observe inappropriate behavior. If you are a remote worker who has experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, speaking to an experienced Wheaton, IL, sexual harassment lawyer can help you decide what your next step should be.  

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