Going through a divorce is stressful. One of the most difficult aspects is negotiating with your spouse how you will divide any property you've acquired during your marriage. Will you keep the home you bought shortly after you wed? Will your spouse automatically get half of any other property or investments?
How is property divided in an Illinois divorce?
Custody mediation for Illinois teachers: Part 2
Teachers face some unique custody challenges when they get divorced. One is the fact that their schedules differ from those of most other working adults. This can strain their parenting plans and custody disputes.
Fortunately, as we noted in an earlier article, Illinois encourages parents to resolve their custody disputes in mediation. Mediation generally gives you more flexibility and control. You get more freedom to address things that might matter to you-such as summer breaks-that don't matter as much to the court. But mediation falls into that same mix of art and science as all forms of negotiation; there are better and worse ways to approach it. Here are four tips that might help you be more successful.
Custody mediation for Illinois teachers, Part 1
Every teacher knows how hard teaching can be. The job carries the stress of dealing with administrators, regulations, unruly children and angry parents. No matter how hard you work to prepare your lessons and develop your relationships with your students, there's always some new conflict to resolve. The last thing you want is to compound your work stress with the stress of a nasty custody battle.
For this reason, you might be thankful that Illinois law encourages mediation. In most cases, the law demands that parents attempt to resolve their custody disputes in mediation. But to make the most of your time in mediation, you need to be prepared. That begins with realistic expectations.
Deciding home-court advantage in your custody hearings
You're having enough trouble dealing with your impending divorce. But now your spouse is talking about heading to St. Louis and filing for custody. You aren't sure of the rules over there, and you don't need any extra uncertainty at a time like this.
You might have a handle on how Marion does things, but Illinois and Missouri handle guardianship differently. And you might not have a say in which state hears your case. That's probably up to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA).
