Family Law and Personal Injury Attorneys
Recent Blog Posts
Illinois Crash Fatalities and Injuries Involving Deer Collisions on the Decline
The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) announced recently that fatal crashes, injuries and the number of motorists killed in accidents involving deer declined in 2011. IDOT and IDNR also reminded motorists to once again be alert for deer along roadways during one of the most active periods of the year for wildlife activity.
“Throughout the fall deer hunting season and into the winter months, we strongly remind all motorists to please slow down, drive defensively, obey posted speed limits, and be especially alert for wildlife at night along Illinois roadways,” Illinois Transportation Secretary Ann L. Schneider said. “We are pleased to report the recent decline in fatal crashes involving deer, but much more awareness and care are still needed to drive down the total number of crashes and injuries due to these unfortunate circumstances.”
The Difficulty of Leaving an Abusive Relationship
In a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, experts explain how difficult it may be for victims of domestic abuse to leave an abusive relationship. The victims must be physically, mentally and financially ready before they can end the relationship.
According to Dawn Dalton, executive director of Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women’s Network, fear is one of the biggest reasons for not getting out. Victims are often viewed as having caused the abuse to happen with their own behavior. "There needs to be a shift in the way domestic violence is viewed so that when someone is a victim, there isn't as much shame in standing up and saying, 'I need help.'"
Victims of domestic abuse should make a safety plan before ending a violent relationship. The plan could include housing, child care and employment plans. The more resources victims have, so that they can break away, the better. It is very difficult to move out with very little money.
Amicable Divorce Can Confuse Your Children
There is always talk about how stressful divorce can be for children, because the parents are fighting and shouting, but an amicable divorce can be a lot to deal with for the children too. It is not always easy for a child to understand why their mom and dad cannot be together when they get along just fine. The issue was addressed on a post at www.circleofmoms.com.
It is easy to find information about dealing with an ugly divorce, but what to do when there is no drama and it confuses your kids? We will try and provide you with some useful points on this topic.
Time, as always, will heal. Your kids are going through a big change in their parents divorcing or separating, so another issue they do not understand can be overwhelming. There will always be something new and scary after divorce, whether it is parents not fighting but still separated, new partners or possible children in the future.
Accident on the Water Claims the Lives of Two Illinois Duck Hunters on Opening Day
The names of the two men who lost their lives in a deadly accident on the first day of duck season have now been released. Rock Island Coroner Brian Gustafson tells us 50 year-old David Slater from Davenport and 42 year-old Thomas Trainer from Canton, Illinois were killed while duck hunting Saturday. Investigators say they were two of seven people on a jon boat when it collided with a concrete day marker. Officers are not releasing exactly what happened next, but we know three other people were seriously hurt. Police say just one person was wearing a flotation device when the accident happened.
This makes more than ten deaths on the river so far this year. It is a number DNR officers call devastating. That's why they are urging other hunters and other fall boaters to take extra precautions.
"I was out yesterday morning and I did hear the yelling and the hurt people out in front of me," said Duck Hunter Gary Carlson.
Door Opened for Mentally Disabled Seeking Divorce in Illinois
Ruling in a case brought in Cook County, the Illinois Supreme Court opened the door Thursday to divorce for people who need guardians because of mental disabilities.
For years, Illinois has barred guardians from seeking a divorce on behalf of the mentally disabled people under their protection. That meant the disabled person could not get a divorce unless his or her spouse started the process.
The ban affected people with severe brain damage, but it also covered those who could make their wishes known — people with Alzheimer's, for instance, or with a mental illness whose effects come and go, according to the advocacy group Equip for Equality.
The ruling said an outright ban is no longer appropriate. It could leave vulnerable people “at the complete mercy” of spouses who abuse them or exploit them financially, Justice Charles Freeman wrote for the unanimous court.
What Is Meant by “the Best Interests of the Child?”
In a lot of divorce cases, courts have to make decisions that affect children, for example, custody determinations in divorce proceedings and termination of parental rights. These decisions must be done in the best interests of the child.
According to the Child Welfare Information Gateway, “the best interests of the child” refers to the discretion of courts when deciding what is best for a child and who is best suited to take care of a child. Courts have to consider a number of factors when they decide what is best for a child such as “the circumstances of the child and the circumstances and capacity of the child's caregiver(s).” The child's well-being is always considered as the most important thing.
Megabus Named Defendant in Lawsuit for Daughter’s Death
Megabus USA LLC, Chaoch Leasing Inc., Coach USA Inc. and the driver, Preston Taylor have all been names as defendants in a lawsuit filed by the parents of an Indian graduate student who was killed after the double-decker bus she was riding in struck a concrete pillar on Interstate 55 in Litchfield, Ill., south of Chicago. Aditi Avhad, 25, a student at the University of Missouri, was traveling back to the university, accompanied by her parents when the accident occurred in August. The girl’s mother, who suffered a broken leg and broken hip, was just recently released from the hospital.
According to a report from Fox Chicago News, the family is seeking $1 million in damages and accuses the bus company of negligence. The bus, which was filled to capacity at the time of the accident, blew a tire and slammed into the pillar. The driver then lost control of the vehicle. Avhad and her family were sitting in the second tier of the bus. Forty-eight of the eighty-one passengers on the bus were injured. Thirty ambulances and ten medical helicopters were dispatched to the scene.
Study Finds White Construction Workers Get Higher Work Comp Settlements in Illinois
White non-Hispanic construction workers are awarded higher workers' compensation settlements in Illinois than Hispanic or black construction workers with similar injuries and disabilities, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.
The disparity amounted to approximately $6,000 more for white non-Hispanic claimants compared to minority workers in the same industry, says Lee Friedman, assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at UIC and lead author of the study, which was published in the October issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
The researchers assessed ethnic disparities among construction workers injured on the job by linking medical records data from the Illinois Department of Public Health and workers' compensation data from the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission between 2000 and 2005. The researchers evaluated a total of 1,039 cases (68 black, 168 Hispanic, 724 white and 79 other ethnicities.)
Marital Property vs. Non-Marital Property
When preparing for a divorce, it is important to know the difference between marital property and non-marital property. Most assets acquired by either spouse after the marriage and before a divorce are marital property and are subject to division upon dissolution of marriage. Non-marital property, however, is not divided in divorce. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act defines non-marital property in the following way:
- property acquired by gift, legacy or descent
- property acquired in exchange for property acquired before the marriage or in exchange for property acquired by gift, legacy or descent
A Morris Illinois Man Killed in a Car-Versus-Semi Truck Accident
Michael D. Durkee, 55, was pronounced dead at the scene of an accident at 3 p.m. Tuesday, said Grundy County Coroner John Callahan in a press release.
The accident occurred around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday on Pine Bluff Road, about two miles east of Illinois 47, according to the dispatch calls.
"Preliminary findings of the crash indicate Mr. Durkee was eastbound on Pine Bluff, approaching the curve, when he suddenly went into the westbound lane of traffic and struck a semi-tractor-trailer in a head-on collision," said Callahan in the release. "At this time, it is unclear as to what may have caused Mr. Durkee’s vehicle to travel into the westbound lanes."
Tracey Steffes, Morris Fire Protection and Ambulance District chief, said Tuesday night there was one person in the car and one person in the semi-truck. The semi driver was not transported to the hospital.
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