On behalf of The Walters Law Group, Ltd. posted in Child Custody on Friday, February 28, 2014. Many Illinois residents are taking note of a major shift in child custody laws that has led to an increase in the number of children living primarily with their fathers. Over the past 50 years, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of fathers who have pursued and been granted custody of their children. A recent Pew Research Center study of historical census and other data reveals that the percentage of households headed by singleContinue reading
Category Archives: Family Law
Cellphone data could prove cohabitation
On behalf of The Walters Law Group, Ltd. posted in Divorce on Friday, February 7, 2014. Illinois residents may be interested in how to prove that their former spouse is cohabiting with a new partner. In most divorces, the payment of alimony is dependent on the receiving spouse remaining single. Therefore, spouses who receive alimony are reluctant to disclose a cohabiting relationship because it could bring an end to the spousal support. Paying spouses, on the other hand, would often prefer for a cohabiting relationship to be disclosed as early as possible.Continue reading
Illinois man arrested for abducting his daughter at gunpoint
On behalf of The Walters Law Group, Ltd. posted in Child Custody on Wednesday, February 5, 2014. State police put out an AMBER alert for a 3-year-old girl after the father allegedly kidnapped the child from her home in Lansing the evening of Jan 23. According to police statements, the man wielded a handgun and forcefully entered his ex-girlfriend’s residence on 175th Street. He took the child and left the scene in a black SUV. Reports didn’t specify whether the parents had a child custody arrangement in place. Law enforcement responded at approximately 8:15 p.m.Continue reading
Unwed father sues for wrongful adoption
On behalf of The Walters Law Group, Ltd. posted in Unmarried Couples on Wednesday, January 8, 2014. A $130 million federal lawsuit recently filed by an unwed father offers inspiration for Illinois dads in similar situations. The plaintiff, a Utah man, is suing his son’s mother for allegedly placing their child for adoption without prior paternal knowledge or proper consent. He further alleges the agency and adoptive parents conspired in an “illegal” and deceitful infant adoption to “deprive” him of custody. Court papers indicate that the unmarried couple separated before the baby’sContinue reading
Teenage girl held in hospital custody for 10 months
On behalf of The Walters Law Group, Ltd. posted in Child Custody on Thursday, January 2, 2014. Chicago residents may be interested in an unusual case involving a teenage girl who has been held against her parents’ wishes in a children’s psychiatric unit for the past ten months. The child custody case began when the 15-year-old girl was taken to Boston Children’s Hospital in February with symptoms that were supposedly linked to a mitochondrial disease. She had been diagnosed with the disease by a doctor at Tufts Medical Center. The girl spent three daysContinue reading
Joint finances for unmarried couples
On behalf of The Walters Law Group, Ltd. posted in Unmarried Couples on Friday, December 27, 2013. When Illinois couples divorce, the procedure for dividing assets can be fairly straightforward. They try to negotiate an agreement, and if they are unable to do so, the judge will order an equitable distribution of all assets acquired by either spouse. However, unmarried couples may wonder about how to separate their joint finances if the relationship ends. In this scenario, one of the best ways for a person to avoid a problem is to takeContinue reading
Woman still required to repay alimony after bankruptcy
On behalf of The Walters Law Group, Ltd. posted in Divorce on Monday, December 23, 2013. Illinois residents may be interested in a recent ruling made by the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on Dec. 9. According to the ruling, after filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a woman who received alimony payments beyond the terms ordered by the court still has to return the funds to her ex-husband. A report says that the couple was married in 1988 and filed for divorce in 2005. After the separation, the man wasContinue reading
Information for relocating parents
On behalf of The Walters Law Group, Ltd. posted in Child Custody on Friday, December 20, 2013. It is not terribly uncommon for one person to move to another state when preparing to marry. Thus, Illinois residents may wonder what happens if the couple later divorces, and one parent wishes to move home with children born of the marriage. Before up and moving across state lines, the custodial parent must obtain consent from the other parent or the judge. Some basic information on the process may help make things easier. First, theContinue reading
Mother and son reunited after 35-year separation
On behalf of The Walters Law Group, Ltd. posted in Child Custody on Tuesday, November 26, 2013. After being separated for approximately 35 years, a mother and son will be reunited thanks, in part, to the kindness of a stranger. The separation began when the child’s father, who was estranged from the mother, picked the child up at his home in Illinois for what appeared to be a routine visit. According to the mother, the father left the United States with the child and took him to Mexico, ignoring her repeated pleasContinue reading
False allegations of child abuse
On behalf of The Walters Law Group, Ltd. posted in Child Custody on Thursday, November 21, 2013. Two recent incidents of false allegations of child abuse have received a fair amount of publicity in Illinois and around the country. Parents in Texas have lost child custody after doctors or other individuals reported signs of abuse, only to later discover that the children were affected by a rare medical condition that was responsible for these injuries. After being indicted by a grand jury for second degree felony injury to a child, a father looked forContinue reading