When you crafted your custody and visitation agreement with your ex-spouse, you knew exactly what would work for each of you. For the most part, things have gone along just fine.
Until they didn't. A personal crisis has thrown your normal routine into disarray and you desperately need to revise the existing custody plan.
There's no denying that the COVID-19 virus has drastically transformed the way that people live their lives in many areas of the world. In particularly hard-hit places, residents have been obliged to ride out the rising tide of infections inside their homes for many weeks.
While areas in the United States are just approaching that extreme, people in the Chinese city of Ix'an are already emerging from their quarantines -- and a significant number of them are heading straight for divorce court. City officials report that they've had a massive increase in the number of divorce requests now that people are able to leave their homes.
If you share custody of your children with a former spouse, you are likely familiar with two important concepts: decision-making and parenting time. The decision-making part of co-parenting includes having a say in education, medical treatments, religious practices, extracurricular activities and other important matters. The parenting time component covers when you see your kids.
If you and your ex-spouse reached an agreement about decision-making and parenting time, you likely have a comprehensive parenting plan. Alternatively, if a judge settled a custody dispute, you probably have an allocation judgment. Either way, the document outlines how much time you spend with your children. For a variety of reasons, though, you may need to rework parenting time.
The newest statistics indicate that Illinois has some of the lowest divorce rates in the nation. Data from the United States Census Bureau indicates that only 6.6% of marriages in Illinois end in divorce. Divorce rates in the nation are generally going down, but the national average population of divorced people is about 16%, by comparison.
So, does Illinois have some kind of special power that is keeping couples together? Not really. Here are some of the reasons that divorce is on the decline in Illinois and elsewhere:
You got married to your spouse without a prenuptial agreement in place. Why in the world would you want to sign a postnuptial agreement now?
As it turns out, there could be many good reasons for you and your spouse to sign a postnup. Let's examine a few of them.
You made the decision to divorce. You told your spouse. Now comes the next big hurdle: telling the kids.
Kids naturally have a lot of questions about what's going to happen when their parents are splitting up. They may be scared, angry or confused by turns, and they're going to be looking to you and your spouse for answers. It's smart to sit down with your spouse before you tell the kids and agree on your approach to the situation. Once you have, consider the following suggestions:
Nowadays, virtually every airline, hotel chain and car rental service has a loyalty program. If you enroll in the right programs, you may save a considerable amount on travel costs. Of course, if your rewards points are marital assets, you must think about what happens to them during your divorce.
In Illinois, divorcing spouses typically divide marital wealth equitably. This approach means that you can likely keep separate property while receiving a fair share of what you and your spouse jointly own. Consequently, if you acquired your airline miles during your marriage, you may have to divide them equitably.
For some people, getting a divorce wasn't the hard part. The real trouble comes every time they have to transition their child to the other parent's house for visitation.
Well, the good news is that you can make it easier -- on you, on your ex-spouse and (most importantly) on your child. Here are some things to try:
Making the decision to seek a divorce was hard -- but figuring out how to reinvent yourself as a newly single person may be harder. The fear of having to "start over" can be one of the major reasons people delay divorce as long as they do.
Rest easy. There are plenty of people who have gone down this road before, and you can learn from what they've discovered. Here's how to approach life after your separation and divorce:
Even though the overall rate of divorce decreased over the years, divorce among people over 50 increased significantly. Bloomberg, the U.S. News & World Report and many other sources report that elder divorce can significantly impact your finances - especially your retirement savings.
However, no matter your age, your retirement is important. You save up for your retirement throughout your entire career, which makes it a significant asset for your future. In fact, it is one of the most valuable assets we own, but individuals often overlook it when it comes to a divorce.
You might wonder: does your spouse have a right to your retirement when you divide property?
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