Guest Speaker: Jim Buck
Divorce laws in Illinois had become arcane, and out of step with what other states are doing; but attorney Jim Buck says reforms to state laws implemented this year are designed to make the process easier on couples and their children.
Buck says major changes to divorce proceedings for 2016 include:
-- No-fault divorce has been adopted in place of established grounds; there were as many as ten factors which could be used as grounds for a divorce, but those have been eliminated.
-- Standards of proof for divorce have been changed; while parties must now provide more substantial evidence, they are now only required to have a preponderance of evidence in their favor.
-- Child custody has been revamped, to emphasize an equal role for both parents in a child’s upbringing; there is no longer a distinction between which parent has custody, and both parties are expected to evenly divide the parenting time and the decision-making for their children.
-- And reforms to maintenance and child support (introduced in 2015) have spelled out how parents should deal with special expenses involving children…everything from extracurricular activities in school, to unexpected needs not outlined in a divorce agreement. Buck also notes the formula used for maintenance agreements between couples has been further refined – and jokes that the process is now complicated and expensive enough to sometimes discourage divorces.