The term "high-conflict divorce" may seem redundant. Afterall, every divorce involves conflict. However, some divorce cases are much more acrimonious than others. When divorcing spouses are unable to move past their anger, frustration and hurt feelings, the divorce process can become a bitter battle. If you are involved in a continuous separation or divorce, you know this firsthand. Here are some tips that may help you navigate a high-conflict divorce and ensure that your rights are protected.

Navigating a Contentious Divorce and Protecting Your Rights

There is no way to completely avoid the stress that comes with a high-conflict divorce. However, there are ways you can manage the conflict and pursue a favorable divorce outcome - even in the midst of extreme dissent.

• Hire the Right Attorney - When you are facing a contentious or difficult divorce, having an experienced lawyer who understands the law and knows how to navigate through the court system is crucial. Make sure you choose an attorney who is familiar with the common strategies used in high-conflict cases and will aggressively represent your interests.

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When a spouse starts exploring the possibility of divorce, he or she is often met with confusing legal jargon and complex divorce laws. It can be hard to interpret dense legal information in preparation for a divorce. One issue that causes an especially high degree of confusion is property division. Divorcing spouses are often unsure of what is theirs and what is their spouse’s property. They are unsure of what they will keep after the split and worry about what they will be forced to give up during the divorce. This blog will provide a general outline of equitable division in an Illinois divorce.

Who Owns What?

Non-marital property is property that belongs to one of the spouses while marital property is jointly owned by both spouses. Property that a spouse purchases or otherwise acquires before getting married is non-marital property. Money and property that a spouse acquires during the marriage is marital property.

How Do Divorcing Spouses Divide Property?  

Divorcing spouses will need to divide marital property during the divorce process. For couples with relatively few assets, this is fairly straightforward. However, property division can become a complicated and contentious issue for some.

Sharing a child with an ex can be exceptionally complicated. Parents who used to be married or in a romantic relationship together often have unresolved feelings of resentment toward each other. Some parents can put these feelings to the side for the sake of their co-parenting relationship. Others cannot.

Parental alienation occurs when a parent deliberately damages the child’s relationship with their other parent. It can be extremely harmful to both the child and the parent. Parental alienation can also influence child custody decisions.

What Does Parental Alienation Look Like?

Parents’ main priority should be caring for their children. Unfortunately, some parents are more focused on getting revenge against the other parent than doing what is best for the child. Parental alienation looks different from case to case, but it usually involves psychological manipulation aimed at disintegrating the parent-child relationship. A parent may try to convince a child that the other parent is evil or that the other parent does not care about him or her. If the child mentions something positive about the other parent, the parent quickly dismisses it or even punishes the child for having positive feelings toward the other parent.

Paternity or parentage is the legal relationship of a father to his child. Establishing paternity is important because it establishes the rights and duties of both the mother and father to their child. Fathers cannot petition the court for parenting time or parental responsibilities until paternity is established. Similarly, mothers cannot ask the court for a child support order until paternity is established.

In Illinois, there are several ways that paternity can be established, including a voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, court order, or administrative order. In some cases, DNA testing is needed to confirm paternity.

Genetic Paternity Testing

DNA testing is often used when parties cannot agree on the identity of the child's father or when the father has denied paternity. In Illinois, a court action can be filed to establish paternity, and DNA testing is one way that a judge may require to determine parentage. A sample of the alleged father's DNA is collected as well as a sample from the child.

For many couples, dividing assets during divorce is the most complicated and conflict-filled aspect of the divorce process.  This is especially true in Illinois, where the division of assets is governed by a mix of common law and statutory rules. If you are planning to divorce, you may have questions like, "Who keeps the house?" or "What happens to our bank accounts?" You may also have questions about complex assets like investments and retirement accounts or liabilities like student loan debt and credit card debt. This blog will cover some of the fundamental aspects of property division in Illinois divorce cases and what you can do if you need help classifying and dividing property during your divorce.

What is Mine and What is Ours?

Under Illinois law, almost all of the assets purchased or otherwise acquired by either spouse during the marriage are considered marital assets. Marital assets include any income earned by either spouse during the marriage as well as any assets that were acquired with that income. Examples of marital assets include houses, cars, furniture, cash, jewelry, collectibles, cryptocurrency, and anything else acquired during the marriage.

Assets acquired before the marriage or gifts and inheritances received by one spouse during the marriage are considered non-marital property. A spouse keeps his or her non-marital property and the marital property must be split between the spouses.