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What Litigation Means for Your Divorce Case
Divorce is a process full of issues that can push a couple into heated disputes. The matters that must be settled are central to a person's well being and the life of his or her child. Thus, resolving these issues through mediation or the collaborative process is not always an option.
If less contentious alternatives to litigation have any chance at working, each party must approach the process willing to engage in some amount of compromise, and hold reasonable expectations for the settlement he or she is willing to accept. Unfortunately, some spouses enter divorce with a hard stance that the other side is unable to persuade to compromise.
Additionally, other cases involve disputes where each party holds views that cannot be jointly reconciled. In these situations, litigation may be the only viable option for resolving a disagreement, and understanding the various stages of a typical litigated divorce should help spouses recognize the complexity involved and could even spur some to reconsider attempting a negotiated settlement.
Dividing Season Tickets and Other Entertainment-Related Assets in Divorce
The variety of items married couples accumulate is often large and expansive, with each spouse typically holding a stronger attachment for certain things over others. Some items are purchased, while other items may come through a gift or sheer chance. Deciding how to divide these items in divorce creates the potential for considerable conflict. Certain assets may be easily identifiable as belonging to the marital estate; however, others, which may be highly valued, are easy to miss. One example of these less-obvious marital assets are season tickets for sporting events, concerts, theater and other entertainment-related occasions.
Typically, one spouse frequently holds particularly strong feelings about keeping certain tickets to the exclusion of the other party. Even if a spouse is not interested in keeping a season ticket package personally, he or she may still be entitled to portion of the value if the item qualifies as a marital asset. Various factors can affect how these types of assets are divided, including issues related to valuation.
The Ability of Non-Parents to Obtain Custody or Visitation
Protecting a child from the harshness that life sometimes brings is a primary goal for parents, which requires exercising control over the things and people a child experiences. Parents are granted a lot of leeway in determining who has access to their child as individuals who legally and naturally hold child custody rights. This deference is based upon the presumption that parents are best suited to decide whether exposure to specific individuals is detrimental to their child. In practice, this means relatives and other significant adults may be blocked from communicating and/or seeing a child. Moreover, in most circumstances, Courts will not question this decision absent certain specific facts.
A parent's decision to block or limit the access of another person often has much to do with the relationship the two persons share, as well as the parenting style used to raise the child. The question of whether a non-parent has the right to ask for visitation or custody rights depends on whether he or she has standing — a legal concept related to a party's ability to ask a Court to settle a dispute.
The Challenges of Parenting after Divorce
Parenting a child under the best of circumstances, when parents are together and united, continually presents challenges that can divide couples if they disagree on the proper response. However, these challenges become markedly more complex following divorce and the division of parenting responsibilities.
Many relationship and situational issues can lead to disputes about childrearing, but one of the most disruptive and pervasive issues that can bring effective parenting to a halt is violence. A recent study published by a professor at the University of Illinois examined how different types of violence affected co-parenting in the first year after divorce.
The findings suggested spouses who experience control-based violence, which tends to be more constant and encompassing, were more likely to have significant co-parenting problems compared with spouses who saw violence based on situations, such as an affair or money problems, who seemed to have more support and cooperation from the other parent.
Default Judgments in Divorce
Disagreements and a lack of cooperation are two of the primary catalysts for divorce, as both spouses experience a loss of connection with one another. While either spouse can initiate the legal process to end the marriage, some amount of cooperation is expected and almost required from both to conclude a divorce case in a timely and efficient manner. However, a Judge cannot force a party to respond or participate in a divorce proceeding if he or she refuses to do so.
A lack of participation by a spouse does not doom a case but puts a Court in a somewhat uncomfortable position. Courts do not like to conclude cases without hearing something from each side; however, if notice of a petition is sent and ignored, a Court will enter a default judgment in favor of the petitioning spouse. A default judgment has serious and permanent consequences for both spouses and is far from an ideal or even fair result.
Practical Tips and Options to Get Divorced
Divorce reaches every aspect of a person's life, and often requires adjustments in both behavior and outlook to make the transition possible. People tend to focus on the legal procedure, since divorce has such a pivotal role in finalizing the outcome, but this tendency can make addressing the practical issues of divorce more difficult, as well as ways of approaching the divorce process itself.
The purpose of divorce is to legally end a marriage, but the route taken to arrive at that point does not necessarily need to involve a drawn out, highly-litigated case, though litigation is sometimes necessary. Other, less contentious options are available and worth exploring for some couples.
Practical Tips
While escaping the difficulties of divorce is impossible, some experiences and challenges are almost universal truisms that may be helpful to keep in mind. First and foremost, divorce is not unique. Many people have walked the same path, though the path does take courage and conviction. Further, divorcing couples tend to focus on what they want immediately and over the coming months, instead of the long-term.
Can You Challenge a Prenup?
Outside of the emotional benefits that most people connect with marriage, being married also offers financial advantages for central issues, such as health insurance and tax liability. However, these advantages can turn into detriments if a marriage ends in divorce. Without a prenuptial agreement, parties are expected to divide their assets in roughly equal proportions.
While predicting financial success at the outset of marriage is nearly impossible, couples expecting productive careers and those with substantial assets at the beginning of the marriage often consider premarital agreements to iron out the division of assets and maintenance (spousal support) in case divorce does occur.
The underlying assumption is that both parties enter into these agreements freely and with sufficient information to make an informed decision about the fairness of the arrangement. The reality, of course, is not always so simple, and circumstances may motivate a spouse to challenge the validity of such an agreement when divorce enters the picture.
How Courts Handle Parents Who Are Under- or Unemployed
Raising a child requires a parent to dedicate a large portion of his or her resources to adequately provide for the child's welfare, not least of which is a large financial obligation. Both parents are supposed to share this responsibility. However, this mutual obligation can become a point of contention between divorced and separated parents.
Child support is a Court-ordered duty to pay a set amount for a child's needs that is most commonly issued when parents get divorced or file a paternity a claim against a former partner. Typically, the legal process used to settle child support and custody claims are handled exactly the same, regardless of the marital status of the parties. Until earlier this year, however, Cook County had separate courtrooms for married and single parents. These facilities, which some claimed were dilapidated and imposed an unfair bias on unmarried parties, were shut down in February.
Can Spousal Support Be Modified?
Finances during and after divorce are a concern for many when adjusting to single life on one income. While this change is challenging for those with established careers and secure employment, those who worked only part-time or stayed at home to raise children face a daunting task that is likely to extend into the foreseeable future.
To make this transition easier and to ward off the possibility of falling into destitution following divorce, a spouse has the right to request spousal support or maintenance from the other party. Some couples settle this issue in advance by executing a prenuptial agreement. However, the majority of couples do not address this issue until the marriage is coming to an end, especially if the parties married young or before a spouse achieved financial success in his or her career.
The founder of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America was recently ordered by an Illinois Court to pay his ex-wife $28,000 per month in spousal support, substantially down from the $400,000 she requested. For the party ordered to pay support, this obligation can feel like a never-ending burden that permanently keeps him or her tied to an ex-spouse. However, in some cases, spousal support orders can be modified, or even terminated, if the circumstances are right.
Illinois Formalizes the Collaborative Law Process
Divorce does not have the best reputation for promoting civil and cooperative relationships between spouses. Traditional divorce actions pit the parties against each other in an adversarial process that does everything possible to limit — or completely cut off — direct contact. While this can make moving from the marriage easier, both emotionally and physically, the litigation model of standard divorce cases does not prepare the parties for working together over child custody, or allow them to have much a say in the terms of the divorce decree.
In recent years, the legal system has increasingly favored settling divorce cases in less contentious environments due to the practicalities of limited Court resources and also to facilitate a better outcome for the parties. This reduces the likelihood of needing to return to Court to settle additional issues.
Introducing The Law Office of Nicholas W. Richardson
Nicholas W. Richardson is an experienced divorce lawyer and mediator whose comprehensive legal knowledge, commitment to clients and reputation for results bring lasting solutions to your problems.
The Law Office of Nicholas W. Richardson, P.C. serves clients in Illinois cities such as Palatine, Schaumburg, Inverness, Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows, Glenview, Hoffman Estates, Bartlett, Des Plaines, Elk Grove Village, Mt. Prospect, Niles, Prospect Heights, Skokie, Streamwood, Barrington, Buffalo Grove, Wheeling, and others throughout Cook County, DuPage County, McHenry County, and Kane County.
Results listed are not a guarantee or indication of future case results.
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