Posted on December 26, 2018 in Family Law

Relocating after your divorce can be tricky if you have a child.

Even if you have primary physical custody of your child, that doesn't mean that the court will automatically allow you to relocate a significant distance away from the child's other parent. A long-distance move could significantly interfere with that parent's visitation rights — and might not be best for your child.

Before you approach a family court in California about relocating, it's important to understand the way that the court will evaluate such a request. In general, the court will always put the best interests of your child ahead of your personal or professional goals.

That being said, here are some possible reasons for relocating that the court might consider acceptable:

• You want to move back to an area where you have close relatives who can provide a strong support system for your children.
• You have a job opportunity in another area that could significantly improve your child's economic situation.

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 Posted on December 24, 2018 in Criminal Defense

When facing a serious criminal situation, many Illinois residents may not fully understand their legal options. While you likely know that you have the ability to create and present a criminal defense against any charges you face, you may not know about certain deals or agreements that could potentially result in your facing lesser consequences for the alleged crime.

Plea bargains or plea deals are not an uncommon tool in criminal justice cases. Often, these deals result in individuals receiving lesser consequences or the dismissal of certain charges for pleading guilty to other allegations. However, you may not have heard of cooperation agreements or non-prosecution agreements.

Cooperation agreement

As the name suggests, a cooperation agreement may come into play if a person chooses to cooperate with authorities. This type of agreement may not be an option in your case. However, in the event that it is, here is some information about this type of agreement to consider:

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 Posted on December 16, 2018 in Criminal Defense

Are you thinking about borrowing a gun "just in case" something happens?

The world can be a scary place. Sometimes, it just feels better knowing that you have a gun around for protection. If you're going to be alone in a new apartment, going through trouble with a volatile ex, have to walk home late at night after work or have recently been threatened by someone, it's only natural to be concerned for your own safety.

However, borrowing a gun for self defense could open the door to a lot of trouble. You may have a weapon to defend yourself, but using it could land you in jail.

In Illinois, you have the legal right to defend yourself by any means necessary — as long as you reasonably believe that force is the only way to prevent yourself or another from suffering serious bodily injury. Illinois also gives you the right to use force to stop someone from breaking into your home if you fear that they may hurt you or otherwise commit a felony.

However, even if your act of self defense is legal, using a borrowed gun for which you have no permit and without a Firearms Owner's Identification (FOID) card means that you could end up facing serious criminal charges. FOID cards are required before you can legally have any firearm or ammunition in your possession. In addition, you could be in violation of the state's Concealed Carry License (CCL) regulations (if you were carrying the gun in a purse or inside your coat, for example).

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 Posted on December 11, 2018 in Divorce

How do you keep your divorce costs down to a minimum?

Well, just like a wedding, a divorce can vary in cost considerably — and a lot of that cost is up to you and your spouse. Most people just don't realize that there are numerous factors that can quickly drive the cost of a divorce way up. They include:

1. Do you need to litigate?

If you and your spouse can agree on all the terms of your divorce before you hit court, you'll likely save a ton of money. A contested divorce that goes into litigation can raise the expense of a divorce by thousands.

Even if you and your spouse don't totally agree on everything, a collaborative divorce or mediated divorce process may still help you avoid litigation and save.

2. What are you doing with the house?

Your home may be a bit of an albatross during your divorce. Keep it, and you face all sorts of expenses to maintain it — plus you have to buy out your spouse's share of the equity. Sell it, and the equity can be eaten away by realtor's fees, a soft home market and moving costs. Either way, it's a big decision and not something that you can take lightly.

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 Posted on December 04, 2018 in Criminal Defense

Illinois has taken a major step to prevent wrongful convictions and protect innocent people from going to jail based on the word of jailhouse informants.

The Illinois statute, which is considered to be the strongest in the nation, takes aim at a system that rewarded good liars and did nothing to protect the average citizen. Here are some important facts you should know:

• Selling information to the prosecution can be lucrative. Two informants in California, for example, made more than $300,000 in just four years.
• In cases where DNA evidence has later exonerated convicted defendants, jailhouse informants were behind their convictions 16 percent of the time.
• The only other states that have adopted similar measures are California, Florida and Texas. However, Pennsylvania, New York and Washington are trying to pass legislation that would do the same.

Under the new statute, prosecutors in Illinois would have to disclose their intention to use a jailhouse informant's testimony a minimum of 30 days in advance of trial. This gives defense attorneys enough time to fairly investigate an informant's history and credibility. Prosecutors will also be required to explain exactly what the informant is getting out the deal — and how many times the informant has been used in the past.

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 Posted on November 29, 2018 in Criminal Defense

If you've been charged with a crime in Illinois, the odds are high that your case will never go to trial. While it varies a little from state to state, 97 percent of federal convictions happen through plea deals. So do 94 percent of convictions for felonies at the state level.

Unfortunately, not all of those people who plead guilty are guilty. Since the system records them as guilty, there's no way to tell for sure how many innocent people take a plea bargain instead of taking their chances at trial. However, it's believed to be a considerable number. Seventy percent of the people in your local jail are there because they can't afford bail. They can't even afford what it would cost to get a bail bondsman to put up the rest of their bail for them.

A plea bargain, for many people, is simply a bargain with "the devil they know" in order to get home to their families and their lives faster. Once they do the math, many people realize that they'll spend more time in jail waiting on their trial than they would if they take a plea. They decide to plead guilty for practical reasons.

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 Posted on November 23, 2018 in Family Law

Are you the father of a child born outside of marriage?

In years past, mothers generally retained exclusive control over the children born from unmarried relationships. Fathers could do very little to retain contact with their children if the mothers objected.

Times have changed. A paternity action can give you the right to establish a relationship with your child — even over the mother's objections.

Choosing to establish paternity over your child is about a lot more than just signing your name on a birth certificate and providing financial support for your child. Consider this:

• Every child has the right to know his or her father. You are giving your child the precious gift a lasting connection with you that can't be easily broken.
• By establishing paternity, you ensure your child's right to an inheritance from you when you pass away.
• Your child also gains the right to collect important benefits if you become disabled, such as Social Security.

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 Posted on November 14, 2018 in Criminal Defense

If you are charged with a crime in Illinois, the best thing you can do for yourself is defend your rights. You don't want to end up with a bias against you in court, and you shouldn't have to worry about unfair treatment.

Whenever you're charged with a crime, you have a right to speak with your attorney. Your attorney's job is to protect and educate you. Your attorney can help guide you through the steps of a criminal case and will do all they can to make sure you don't face unfair charges or penalties.

If you are charged with a serious offense, such as assault and battery, then you need to shore up your defenses quickly. Here's a bit on what you can do to build a strong defense.

1. Be honest with your attorney

To start with, be honest with your attorney. Don't hide anything about your case, because it's likely that those facts will come out one way or another. Your attorney won't be surprised by anything you tell them, so be honest.

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 Posted on November 09, 2018 in Divorce

Sometimes, people just know that a divorce is the right choice. If that's you, then what some believe was the sign to divorce might resonate with you.

For example, trust is an important part of a relationship. If you lose the trust of your spouse or believe you can't trust them, then a divorce might be the one choice that could help. One person explained that trying to save a marriage can work, but if there is no trust, then there is almost no way forward.

Marital counseling can help make your divorce easier

Others believe that the process of trying to save a divorce through therapy can actually solidify the choice to go through a divorce. For instance, if you go through marriage counseling and find that neither you nor your spouse has any romantic feelings left for one another, then it might be the end.

The good thing about coming to these realizations is that they can help you move forward with a divorce without animosity. If you both go through marital counseling, it can help you come to the mutual agreement to divorce instead of having one person choose it and making the other go along with the decision.

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 Posted on November 02, 2018 in Criminal Defense

After an arrest, many people wait to learn whether the court will allow for their releases on bail or bond. In numerous cases, parties may not have the ability to meet cash bail amounts, and as a result, they spend a considerable time in pretrial detention. Commonly, individuals who pose no threat to the community or who are innocent of the alleged crime will still spend time behind bars.

Fortunately, for you as an Illinois resident, you may not have to contend with this type of situation. The governor signed the Bail Reform Act into law last year, and it took effect at the beginning of this year. Now, in the event that you face arrest, you may have a lessor likelihood of remaining in pretrial detention if you cannot meet bail.

Bail Reform Act

The new law addresses considerations for bail amounts and whether accused parties could face release on their own recognizance, which means that the individuals agree to appear in court when told, but do not have to pay bail in order to obtain release. The desired effect of this new law relates to lowering the populations of county jails.

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