Columbia Divorce and Family Law Blog

Parents in Illinois and throughout the country typically want to be involved in their children's lives. However, it may not always be in a child's best interest to interact on a regular basis with mom or dad. If a parent is denied custody, there may be things that parents can do to obtain custody in the future. For instance, a judge may allow custody after completing a parenting class or going to rehab.

Even if there is no guarantee that custody will be granted after complying with a judge's order, it is still a good idea to comply as soon as possible. Doing so shows that an individual is serious about being a part of his or her child's life. Parents who aren't granted custody may still be given visitation rights to the child. It is important to make full use of those rights as it can further show a judge that a person is serious about being a good parent.

Divorce rates among active-duty U.S. military members living in Illinois and elsewhere declined slightly in 2018, according to data from the U.S. Department of Defense. The dip continues a downward trend that began 10 years ago.

Researchers calculate the annual military divorce rate by comparing the number of active-duty troops who are married at the beginning of a fiscal year with the number who completed divorces by the end the year. Defense Department statistics show that 3% of service members who were married at the beginning of 2018 got divorced at some point during the year. That percentage represents a 0.1% drop from 2017.

Illinois judges will take several factors into account when determining how much a person must pay in child and spousal support after a divorce. While individual courts may differ in the specifics, they all generally follow the same guidelines.

Calculating income for the purposes of alimony and child support can be somewhat complex. A court might include everything from wages and performance bonuses to deferred compensation and investment dividends. Judges may also look beyond the income reported on tax returns for other means of support if the family appears to have a lifestyle that could not be supported by reported income. Another consideration is what the ex could potentially be earning or what they lived on during the marriage. In the first instance, an ex who has a professional degree but is working in retail might be expected to earn a higher income. An example of the second instance might be someone who received money from family during the marriage despite not working outside the home.

Illinois fans of celebrities Blac Chyna and Rob Kardashian may be aware that the two have been in a dispute over child support and other issues since they split up in December 2016. The two were only together for about a year, and their relationship ended within months of the birth of their daughter.

Kardashian had asked for his payments of $20,000 per month to be modified because he could no longer afford them. He said he would not be appearing on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" any longer and that he had been damaged by a restraining order Chyna filed against him in 2017. In an Instagram post that she later deleted, Chyna reportedly said she had never asked him for child support.