Posted on February 19, 2018 in Main

The rights a parent has to spend time with their child and raise him or her as well as the responsibility a parent has to protect and care for his child are collectively called “parental rights.” A parent is responsible for providing the basics like food, water, and shelter, but also immaterial necessities like education, affection, appropriate discipline, and medical care. Courts do have the authority to terminate parental rights, but this only happens if it is in the child's best interest to end contact with a parent. This most often happens in cases of abuse or neglect. Parental rights are also terminated when a parent gives a child up for adoption. In situations where unmarried parents have a child together or married parents get divorced, the courts clarify parental rights and responsibilities through child custody orders.

Parental Rights When a Child is Conceived Through Rape

Studies approximate that between 17,000 and 32,000 pregnancies resulting from rape occur in the United States each year. Most would assume that if a person is found guilty of rape that they would not have parental rights to the child which was conceived; however, this is not the case across the country. The Maryland Senate just recently voted on this deeply important, but semi-controversial issue.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on February 13, 2018 in Main

A female California lawmaker who made headlines for fighting against sexual misconduct in the state Capitol has now been accused of such misconduct herself. The woman was an important figure in the #MeToo movement, a social media trend through which victims of sexual harassment and assault can demonstrate how widespread these problems are. The movement has been groundbreaking in its ability to shed light on the once-taboo topic of sexual misconduct – especially sexual harassment in the workplace. The news stories have mostly focused on women victims, but it is important to note that sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape although much less frequent, can happen to both men and women.

Female Lawmaker May Face Criminal Charges

The man accusing the prominent female lawmaker of misconduct claims that she drunkenly approached him at a softball game and touched him in an unwelcome sexual way in 2014. The man did not report the incident immediately because he feared the backlash from accusing a powerful woman of sexual assault. This January, the male staffer told his former boss about the incident and an investigation began. He is not alone in his accusations. Another man who works as a lobbyist has also accused the lawmaker of sexual misconduct. The woman accused of the inappropriate touching is denying the accusations. “I can also say I have zero recollection of engaging in inappropriate behavior and such behavior is inconsistent with my values,” she said in a statement.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on February 07, 2018 in Kane

If you are someone considering getting divorced, or your spouse is considering filing for divorce, you probably have a lot of questions and concerns. You may be wondering if you should hire an attorney, how you will share responsibilities and parenting time with your children, or how your assets and property will be divided. Additionally, you may be worried about how you will mentally and emotionally cope with the end of your marriage. There is no perfect way to get divorced, but there are some actions which can certainly convolute the process and make it more drawn out and expensive than necessary.

Hiding Assets or Lying About Your Financial Status

Everyone handles divorce differently, but there are some mistakes which should be avoided at all costs. Hiding assets is one of these mistakes. Divorce is a not only a personal separation but also a financial separation. Courts need accurate financial information from both spouses in order to make decisions about spousal maintenance, child support, property division, and more. Artificially deflating your income, failing to report a piece of real estate, or otherwise misrepresenting your financial circumstances can result in penalties, money sanctions, and a more problematic and expensive divorce. In order for things to go as smoothly as possible, it is critical that both spouses are honest regarding marital debt and assets.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on February 01, 2018 in Main

Cheating has been a problem in romantic relationships since romantic relationships came into existence. In the past, many cheating spouses found their new partners through work, mutual friends, and other in-person social interactions. An instance of infidelity used to stereotypically involve dinner and a hotel room, but today, affairs can look quite different.

The internet has changed the way we do almost everything. It is now easier than ever to keep in contact with old friends or significant others and to meet new people. Through the world wide web, people in the United States can talk to someone in Australia instantaneously. We are more connected as a human species than ever before, but sometimes this over-connectedness can cause problems in our most valuable relationships.

What Is Considered Cheating?

One of the things which makes online affairs so difficult to categorize is because it is hard to determine what is infidelity and what is not. Each married couple has a different standard for how they interact with others while in a relationship. For some, a husband who is having platonic chats with an ex-girlfriend online is unacceptable, while others may not mind. Many couples consider any activity done in secret to be immoral. So, if a wife has an online friend but keeps it a secret, she is cheating. Other couples may accept online flirtation but draw the line at physical interaction. Whatever the circumstances, only those people within the marriage can truly decide what is cheating to them and what is not.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 30, 2018 in Main

The issue of sexual harassment has often been swept under the rug, but when high-profile celebrities such as Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, and Senator Al Franken were accused of sexual harassment, it brought the issue to the front of many people's mind. The #MeToo movement on Twitter and other social media outlets is further shedding light on this once taboo topic. However, despite the increased focus on the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace, it appears that many victims still remain silent.

Fears Keep Victims Quiet

In a survey created by CareerBuilder, private-sector workers across a variety of industries and company sizes were asked questions about sexual harassment at work. About 12 percent of all workers say that they have experienced sexual harassment while at work, but the majority of those individuals never report the inappropriate conduct. In fact, of all the people who say they have been sexually harassed at work, 72 percent have never filed a report about it. A little over half of the victims of sexual harassment have never confronted the perpetrator either. In the survey, victims of sexual harassment who had not reported the harassment cited fear of being a troublemaker, fear of losing their job, and concern about the case being their word against another's as reasons for staying silent.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 25, 2018 in Kane

In recent years, the movement to get divorces out of the courtroom has gained significant momentum. Alternatives like mediation and collaborative divorce have attracted a growing number of supporters, but there are just as many who are unsure of the benefits of these relatively new approaches. Before making a decision either way, it is important to understand the features of all the methods so that you can get a better sense of what might be right for you and your divorce.

Courtrooms Offer Familiarity

The divorce process in an Illinois courtroom has changed little over the years, even as the laws relative to divorce have changed significantly. To initiate divorce proceedings, you or your spouse must file a petition in the relevant county court, and from there, the other may either respond or choose not to contest the divorce. Judgment will be entered if and when a court is able to verify that irreconcilable differences have resulted in an “irretrievable breakdown” of the marriage.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 22, 2018 in Main

The purpose of child support is to help the parent with the majority of the parenting time to pay expenses related to the care of the child. The state of Illinois takes the obligation to ensure children are adequately cared for very seriously. The courts will do everything in their power to make sure a child is receiving the funds necessary to maintain the same quality of life he or she had when his or her parents were married.

Consequences for Non-Payment

Child support is a requirement, not a suggestion. Those ordered by the courts to pay who consistently skip payments can face serious consequences. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services' Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) is in charge of recording and monitoring child support payments. When a parent who should be receiving support notifies DCSS of the other parent's failure to pay court-awarded child support, DCSS will take steps to retrieve the support funds from the obligated parent. This happens automatically if the recipient parent is receiving public assistance. If the DCSS cannot convince the payer parent to pay his missed child support payments, they will use an Income Withholding for Support request. This orders the paying parent's employer to withhold an additional amount in child support from the parent's earnings. Other methods of recovering child support payments from a non-paying parent include:

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 15, 2018 in Main

Over the last few months, sexual harassment has been all over the news. From movie stars to politicians many influential people have been accused of sexual harassment. At the recent Golden Globes award show, actors and actresses wore a black-and-white pin inscribed with the words “Times Up.” The pin—which worn by stars like Justin Timberlake and Michelle Pfeiffer—references the idea that time is up for men who have been allowed to be sexually inappropriate with un-consenting women. Sexual harassment, however, is not something that only happens to celebrities.

Studies have found that bartending is the profession third-most vulnerable to nonfatal workplace violence. Only law enforcement and security are more dangerous is this regard. Much of this violence is due to sexual harassment. There is no one conclusive reason for this statistic to be true, but the consumption of alcohol and the party-like atmosphere of many bars are almost certainly factors. People also tend to see friendly and social behavior by a bartender as an invitation to make sexual advances.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 08, 2018 in Kane

Spousal maintenance, also called spousal support or alimony, refers to the payments one spouse (the obligor) makes to the other (the obligee) after a divorce. The purpose of spousal support is to provide "reasonable and necessary" financial support to the lower-earning spouse.

In Illinois, there are four main types of spousal support: temporary, permanent, reviewable, and rehabilitative. Temporary maintenance is sometimes ordered by a judge in order to help a spouse financially during the divorce proceeding. If a judge orders permanent maintenance, the obligor makes payments until the spouse passes away, remarries, or cohabits with a new partner. If the obligor passes away before the recipient, the decedent's estate does not have to continue payments.

Permanent maintenance is generally ordered in instances where the marriage lasted 20 years or more. Rehabilitative spousal support is a temporary support measure which allows the obligee time to acquire the education, skills, training, work history, and licensure needed to become financially independent. Finally, reviewable alimony refers to orders for spousal support which are made with the intention of being reviewed and possibly modified or discontinued by the courts in the future.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 02, 2018 in Main

Same-sex marriage has been legal since June 2015. In Obergefell v. Hodges, the United States Supreme Court ruled that state-level bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional. As with any marriage, marriages between same-sex couples do not always work out as the couple originally planned. A couple in Hawaii has found themselves in the national spotlight as their unique parenting dispute continues.

Unusual Circumstances

The lesbian couple was first married in Washington, D. C. in 2013 before moving to Hawaii. The couple had previously discussed having a child together and while one of the women was deployed through the military during 2015, her spouse got pregnant via a sperm donor. The woman who was deployed filed for divorce, and the baby was born while the divorce was pending. The non-biological parent now wishes to sever her parental rights regarding the child. She claims that she did not know of her ex-spouse's plans to get pregnant, was not there for the birth of the child, and has not developed a relationship with the child. She does not believe that she should be responsible for child support and is willing to give up her legal parental rights to the child.

Continue Reading ››