No parent in DuPage County wants to face a situation in which they cannot afford to make their regular child support payments. However, there are numerous situations that can arise to make it difficult or even impossible for a parent to contribute his or her portion of the child support obligation. For example, if a parent gets hurt and cannot work, that parent may be hospitalized for a month or longer, preventing that parent from earning money and contributing to the support of the child. Or, a parent might lose his or her job. If you lose your job, can you have your child support obligation modified?

In short, the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) allows parents to modify child support in some circumstances, but it is important to understand how child support can be modified and what limitations might exist. If you need to modify child support, you should reach out to a DuPage County child support attorney as soon as you can.

Are You Eligible to Modify Child Support?

In order to modify child support, in most circumstances, one of the following must be true:

You might have heard that approximately 50 percent of marriages in the U.S. end up in divorce, but that the statistic has declined in recent years. Or you may have heard that millennials are getting married at much lower rates than people in older generations. Everyone seems to know something about divorce, to have some idea about supposed statistics surrounding divorce, or to be able to identify interesting facts about the divorce process. But what do you really know about divorce? We have collated information from a wide variety of sources to bring you some surprising statistics about divorce.

Divorce Rates in the U.S.

What are the facts when it comes to divorce rates in the U.S.? The following represent some statistics that you may find surprising:

• Approximately 42 percent to 45 percent of marriages now end in divorce;
• Fewer millennials are getting divorced, but at the same time fewer millennials are getting married;
• Around 60 percent of second marriages end in divorce, and nearly three-fourths of all third marriages end in divorce;
• More than one-fifth, or 20 percent, of the U.S. population has been divorced at least once, and about 10 percent of the population is currently divorced;
• The average length of a marriage that ends in divorce is about eight years;
• The rate of “gray divorce,” or divorce among older adults, has doubled since the year 1990;
• Currently, about 25 percent of divorces involve couples over the age of 50; and
• On average, about 2,400 divorces occur each day.

Predicting Divorce and Divorce Risk Factors

• Some studies say divorce is “contagious,” meaning that people are more likely to file for divorce if a family member or close friend files for divorce;
• Higher education (having at least a bachelor’s degree from a college or university) reduces your risk of getting divorced by about 13 percent;
• Spending more money on your wedding may increase the likelihood of your filing for divorce;
• People with higher incomes are less likely to get divorced; and
• People with more friends and more people in their social networks are less likely to seek a divorce.

Facts Concerning Divorce and Children

• Short-term effects of divorce on children typically dissipate;
• Keeping contact with children, even if it is through social media or electronic communication, has a significant impact on the parent-child relationship;
• Telling children about divorce plans as quickly and truthfully as possible helps kids with divorce in the long run; and
• Nearly 20 percent of kids currently live in a family with a single parent, a remarried parent, and/or step-siblings.

Contact an Experienced Divorce Attorney in DuPage County

Do you need assistance with your divorce, or do you have questions about the divorce process more generally? An experienced and compassionate Oakbrook Terrace divorce lawyer can answer your questions today. Our firm is committed to assisting members of the DuPage County Muslim community with a wide variety of family law matters. Contact Farooqi & Husain Law Office today for more information. We can also be reached by phone at 630-909-9114.

Family law issues in the U.S. can be especially complicated for Muslims, whether they were born and raised in the U.S. or are recent immigrants. For instance, many Muslims in DuPage County have ties to non-Western cultures and traditions that often are seen as being in conflict with Western values that often are seen as more prevalent in the U.S. Yet more American Muslims are filing for divorce than ever before.

To be sure, it is important to recognize that many American Muslims are filing for divorce at higher rates. These divorces highlight a growing number of Muslims in the United States deciding to end their marriages for various reasons.

Rates of Divorce Among American Muslims

Currently, the overall divorce rate in the U.S. is right around 45 percent. The divorce rate in the country has declined since the 1970s and 1980s, but it still remains relatively high. In Canada, the divorce rate is at about 37 percent—less than the overall rate in the U.S., but still comparatively high. How does the Muslim divorce rate in the U.S. and Canada compare? In short, there is not a lot of research that has been conducted on this topic, and as such, there is very little data. Back in 1990, one study suggested that the divorce rate among Muslims in North America was just over 30 percent, which was less than the average divorce rates in the U.S. and Canada but significantly higher than divorce rates among Muslim communities in other parts of the world.

Making the decision to get divorced is never easy no matter what the circumstances might be. Depending upon the specific facts of your case, the divorce process can take months before property division occurs and the court can issue an allocation judgment concerning parental responsibilities. If you are thinking about filing for divorce, you may be asking yourself: should I file for divorce first? Keep in mind that, regardless of whether you are the one who files the petition for divorce, the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) will govern the process for your divorce.

While the outcome may be similar whether you are the petitioner (the spouse filing for divorce) or the respondent (the spouse being served divorce papers after the other spouse files first) in an Illinois divorce, there may be some advantages to being the petitioner. In other words, the spouse who files for divorce first may see some benefits over the spouse who is ultimately served with divorce papers.

How Being the Petitioner in a Divorce Case Can Give You the Benefit of Planning Ahead

Being the petitioner in a divorce, or the spouse who files for divorce first may have some financial benefits. For example, that spouse often can spend more time seeking out the best divorce attorney for his or her case and may have the luxury of interviewing multiple lawyers before making a decision about who to hire. As such, the spouse who files for divorce first often can work with the best divorce lawyer for his or her case from the beginning stages of the divorce.

When you have made the decision to file for divorce — or you have at least made the decision to speak with an attorney about the possibility of filing for divorce—the next steps can feel daunting. For most residents of DuPage County, the first step is to schedule a consultation with a divorce lawyer. Once you have scheduled an initial consultation, you will likely be wondering what you need to bring with you when you meet with a divorce attorney for the first time. While preparing for a divorce consultation can feel intimidating, you should keep in mind that this consultation is for you so that you can get a sense of the attorney’s role in the process, whether you want to work with this particular divorce lawyer, and what major issues you are likely to face in your divorce.

The family law advocates at Farooqi & Husain Law Office have years of experience assisting members of the Muslim community in DuPage County with divorce. Recognizing the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) will govern your divorce proceedings, the following is a checklist to consider when preparing for your divorce consultation.

1. Financial Documents

The first and most important category of items to bring to any divorce consultation concerns your finances (and financial documents from the marriage). The divorce lawyer will want to have a sense of the complexity of dividing marital property, whether you will want to seek spousal maintenance (or should expect to pay spousal maintenance), and how the court is likely to handle child support if there are still minor children from your marriage or if you have children in college.