All you have to do is prove that:. Over time, the thought that spouses were property that could be stolen largely expired, and one by one, most U. States repealed alienation of affection statutes.
North Carolina has the highest number of alienation of affection lawsuits in the nation, and the majority of plaintiffs win their cases. Take, for example, the family that Elle covered in its story about the alienation of affection lawsuits.
The husband cheated on his wife with another woman and left her when his mistress became pregnant. After her divorce , the ex-wife was working as a bartender and telling her story to a couple of patrons who turned out to be attorneys. Experts estimate the state sees about such cases each year. Both men and women sue, typically targeting defendants capable of paying the awards.
When her courtroom battle began in the summer of , Elizabeth Clark knew what she was up against. Both she and Adam took turns on the stand describing their marriage.
They had gotten engaged in after dating for more than a year. They planned their wedding in a hurry because Adam, then a captain in the U. Army, was stationed in another state.
But, as she told the jury, the weekend of the ceremony, Elizabeth discovered Adam had been messaging other women. He consoled her, explaining it away, and Elizabeth celebrated as best she could. She created an ad on Craigslist, where she had found him trolling for women, to see if he would reply. After that rocky start, things seemed to improve. They went to marriage retreats, talked to a chaplain, and tried to strengthen their bond by writing love letters.
Their son was born in , their daughter in Adam proved himself a devoted father. In the spring of , Adam met Kimberly, an army ob-gyn, when he was sent to Virginia for several months of leadership training. He and the 14 others in his class, including Kimberly, became close, working out as a group and periodically having dinner on weekends. He started staying up there. When Elizabeth asked Adam about his changing behavior toward her, he brushed her off.
But when he came home one July weekend, Elizabeth checked his phone and saw he was texting with someone. When she asked Adam if he knew someone named Kimberly, he insisted they were just friends. But, Elizabeth would testify, she remained suspicious. Then, in August, she got the confirmation she was seeking: Adam had sent Kimberly a photo of his penis. Two weeks later, Elizabeth and Adam separated. North Carolina mandates a separation agreement be in place for a year before couples legally file for divorce.
The period is supposed to be a time for both parties to think about their decision. Elizabeth and Adam continued to see each other in the messy, complicated way many newly fractured couples do. They continued to see each other on and off for months.
Odds are, one person survived longer than the other - maybe by a few seconds, maybe by a few weeks. Survivorship period laws simply require that the beneficiary of an estate outlive the decedent by a certain amount of time before benefiting from the estate. Mandatory survivorship periods are one of the ways Illinois lawmakers seek to solve this problem. To illustrate the problem, imagine that a married couple, Ashley and Beth, have made wills and left their entire estates to each other.
Same-sex couples in Illinois get married with high hopes of long-term marital success. Unfortunately, staying married forever is not always possible and divorce becomes necessary. Since same-sex marriage became legal in the United States, the divorce process for same-sex couples is usually the same as ending a marriage for heterosexual couples. Regardless of the gender of your spouse, it is important to understand the divorce process so you can make your divorce as smooth and fair as possible.
Before a couple can get divorced in Illinois, one spouse must be a resident of Illinois. To be a resident, a person must have lived in Illinois for the past 90 days or, if they are an active duty member of the military, must have been stationed there the past 90 days.
If children are involved, the children must have been residents for at least six months. While wills and trusts are both ways to pass money and property to your survivors, there are a few major differences.
For example, a will has no effect until the testator has passed away, while a trust takes effect immediately. Many strong estate plans use a combination of a will and a trust, or trusts, as a way to make sure everything is covered.
It is important to work closely with a qualified estate planning attorney, who can help you determine whether your ideal estate plan includes a will, trust, or both. When you begin working on your estate plan, your attorney will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of both wills and trusts to help you decide what is best for your individual situation.
A few key differences are:. Timing - A will and trust take effect at different times. A living trust may immediately transfer ownership of any property you place in the trust to the trust. A will, on the other hand, has no legal effect whatsoever until you have passed away. Different states have different methods for handling child support when either parent remarries. If the parent with the majority of parenting time gets remarried, the other parent - the one making the child support payments - may request a modification.
If the parent making payments gets remarried, their child support payments are unlikely to change without otherwise having a significant change in their overall financial situation. Because the financial obligation to their children does not change with a new marriage, courts do not often change child support when a paying parent gets remarried.
Although getting divorced is never easy, the divorce process can quickly become a nightmare if your attorney has become non-responsive or shows up to meetings unprepared. Besides the expense of hiring an unhelpful attorney, you may now be faced with the additional burden of finding and hiring someone else. But before you decide to change your divorce attorney, it is important to set clear expectations so you know what could change and what will likely stay the same.
There are certain things you can expect of your attorney, but some frustrations with the divorce process are natural and will happen no matter how great your lawyer is. Although anyone can generally fire their attorney for any reason or no reason at all, you will be more likely to experience a smooth transition if you take certain steps first. Firing your attorney without having a new attorney already may lead to delays in your case and difficulty getting information transferred to your new lawyer.
If you have already created estate planning documents, but it has been years since you looked at or thought about them, it might be time to speak to an estate planning attorney about updating them. You may find that your circumstances or wishes have changed substantially since the last time you looked at your will, trust, or healthcare planning documents.
Even if you are confident that your estate planning documents still accurately reflect your wishes, laws change over time that may affect your estate. A variety of life changes may trigger you to want to update your will or trust, or other documents like your Healthcare Power of Attorney and Advance Directives. It may be time to see an attorney about your estate plan when any of the following changes occur:. Family Structure - If you have recently gotten married or divorced, had a child, had a grandchild, or even reconciled with a formerly estranged relative, you may want to update your estate plan to reflect these changes.
If you are getting divorced but the thought of spending hours in court negotiating with your spouse makes you queasy, there are other options. In fact, only a small percentage of Illinois divorces are actually litigated in court because the alternatives to litigation have so many advantages. This article looks at the two primary alternatives to divorce litigation: mediation and collaborative divorce.
Although they are similar, mediation and collaborative divorce are not the same, and it is important to understand their differences, so you know whether one of these options is right for you.
In an Illinois divorce, mediation is a negotiation process involving two spouses and an impartial third-party mediator. Mediators are trained professionals who can guide spouses through negotiations about important issues such as the division of marital property, parenting time , and spousal support.
Mediators are skilled in conflict resolution and can help spouses keep hostility to a minimum. Although each spouse usually still has an attorney, the attorneys are not a part of the mediation process.
While estate planning is important for everyone, it is especially so for high-net-worth individuals. If you own high-value or complex assets, a number of estate planning tools are available to ensure that your wealth is distributed according to your wishes while minimizing your Illinois Estate and Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax liability.
The greater the value of your estate, the greater the potential liabilities. An experienced attorney can craft an estate plan designed to preserve your wealth. Generally, trusts are favored over wills. Trusts serve one very important purpose-- avoiding probate. There are two types of trusts: revocable and irrevocable.
Often, both are used to hold different assets and to serve different purposes. A revocable trust allows you to continue making modifications to it throughout your life. You can move assets in and out of a revocable trust. Any wealth contained in a revocable trust will not be subject to probate.
Getting used to parenting with your kids in two separate households is a difficult but necessary task for many families adjusting to life after divorce. The start of a new school year puts additional responsibilities on parents as they try to arrange schedules, buy supplies, and manage expenses.
Thinking ahead is crucial for creating an adequate parenting plan. Having a plan in place can help a family transition into the academic year much more smoothly. Whether you have been divorced for years or are still going through a divorce, here are some things to consider addressing in your parenting plan as your children start school. Extracurricular activities, books, and fees for tests and college-level courses can add up quickly. Powers of attorney can be as limited in scope as allowing your agent to handle one specific transaction for you, or as broad as giving your agent general and permanent power to manage all of your finances and medical decision-making.
It is very important to consult with a qualified attorney before you execute any power of attorney. These legal documents can be quite complicated, and an experienced attorney will be able to guide you through the process and ensure that your wishes will be carried out correctly. The main difference between a durable power of attorney and a springing power of attorney is that a durable power of attorney takes effect immediately and gives your agent the ability to start making decisions for you, managing your finances, or any other included powers right away.
It is effective for the rest of your life unless you revoke it. A durable power of attorney is not affected if you become incapacitated. One advantage of a durable power of attorney is that since it is already in effect, the transition after you become incapacitated can be seamless. A springing power of attorney does not give your agent any powers unless you become incapacitated. In Illinois, you are considered incapacitated when two doctors agree that you are no longer able to make decisions for yourself.
If you have decided to get a divorce , the next step is to choose an Illinois divorce attorney. But what makes a good attorney? Out of the myriad of options, how do you know what to look for, or even where to look?
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