Across the United States, every nine seconds a woman is assaulted or beaten. According to current statistics, domestic violence remains one of the leading causes of injuries among women, even more than car accidents, robbery or rape but Illinois is moving forward with the concept of compensation for those afflicted by this troubling act.

Do not try this, because if you are the spouse guilty of bigamy (a crime in Illinois), it is a Class 4 felony. Illinois law (720 ILCS 5/11-45) states the following regarding bigamy and marrying a bigamist:

By Mark Imielski and John Martoccio

In the wake of more than 20 separate safety recalls involving more than 11 million vehicles, including a million and a half Jeeps linked with deadly fires, federal regulators have fined international automaker Fiat Chrysler a record $105 million. The fine was levied by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) against the Italian-American multinational vehicle manufacturer as the result of delayed and inefficient handling of nearly two dozen recalls.

My fiancé and I are looking to buy a house and live in it after we are married. My credit is bad so my fiancé wants to buy the house in his own name. If we get divorced, will this house be our marital asset or does he get to keep it as his separate or non-marital property?

Common sense would make you think an annulment—which declares the marriage never existed—would be simpler, but this is not necessarily true. Divorce is by far simpler to obtain since irreconcilable differences can be used as the grounds in most cases. Beginning in 2016, irreconcilable differences will be the only grounds available for any divorce in Illinois.

Convenience stores, gas stations and supermarkets, examples of the 240,000 retail outlets that sell instant lottery tickets on a daily basis. Could Americans be fulfilling the old proverb, “lucky at cards, unlucky in love”? Perhaps so, as the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (NBCI) reiterates that pathological gambling has been widely reported to cause negative consequences, not only to a marriage but the family as well.

After years of deliberation, major changes may soon be positioning themselves into the legal landscape of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5). These changes were recently passed by the Illinois General Assembly. The new bill, referred to as SB 57, covers the following areas of Illinois divorce and family law:

With most cases, the desire for the majority of divorced fathers to maintain an active presence in their child’s life can be an emotional and often frustrating challenge. For most, it is often hard enough to have been a strong role model while living within the family home but following divorce, most fathers feel that the physical every day contact has turned into an untethered existence in their child’s life, often diminishing the emotional connection as well.

For criminal defendants, the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees “the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury.” The historical precedent for a jury trial, though, dates back centuries and was addressed in the Magna Carta in the early 13th Century. Beyond its application in the criminal justice system, it is also a major component of civil court proceedings as well, as most civil claimants have the right to demand that their matter be heard by a jury. This generally applies to personal injury lawsuits as well, including auto accidents, product liability, …