Posted on January 23, 2019 in Family Law

When a marriage ends, it can cause a significant amount of stress on both parties involved. The decision to ask for a divorce, the actual process of the divorce, and adjusting to your new life after the divorce can cause varying levels of stress. Stress can take over a person’s life if steps are not taken to mitigate it.

What Is Divorce Stress?

Most people have an idea of what stress is, but in order to help combat your stress, it is helpful to learn more about it as it relates to your divorce. Divorce stress usually involves two different types of stressors. There are the ones most people think about and know they will have to deal with in some form: who is going to move, losing what you are familiar with, paying bills, your children’s reaction, and starting over.

Then there are the stressors which are caused by what is unknown in your life because of the divorce: what kind of settlement you will have, the division of assets and debts, finding a job after the divorce, dealing with less money, being afraid of family reactions, etc. The combination of all these factors can cause a large amount of stress in somebody who is going through a divorce.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 23, 2019 in Immigration

Unfortunately, when immigrants come to settle in the U.S., they are very often the victims of crime, especially if they are undocumented, because they are seen as easy targets. If you have been the victim of a crime, particularly a violent crime, it can feel like seeing justice is hopeless, but there is an option by which you may be permitted to remain in the U.S. and assist law enforcement at the same time. The U visa is designed especially for victims of crime, though the criteria are strict, and there are other options you may wish to explore as well.

U Visas

There is a lack of hard data on immigrants as crime victims. Due to language problems and fear of retaliation or deportation, especially under this administration, some immigrant populations are slow to report crimes against them, and some studies do support this conclusion. However, it is not difficult to understand why immigrants might hesitate to report, especially those who belong to vulnerable groups, such as women or members of the LGBT community. Partly as a response to this reluctance, the U.S. government implemented the T and U visas, with the T visa being reserved for human trafficking victims and their families while U visas are for victims of crime in general.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 21, 2019 in Personal Injury

Car accidents are traumatic events that can elicit very different reactions from witnesses and victims. The shock of the impact and repercussions of injuries may be felt immediately, or could be delayed for minutes, hours, or days. How an accident victim responds to the immediate aftermath of a car crash can make a significant difference in his/her ability to recover compensation.

Some of the actions advised are fairly obvious or intuitive, but others would not necessarily occur to a victim absorbing the shock of the accident, and knowing in advance how to act in the event of an accident can save a lot of time and effort if a lawsuit is filed at a later date.

Even if this information is viewed following an accident, it can still prove useful to a victim because it will inform him/her what to do in the days and months following the collision to both preserve and build a strong car accident personal injury lawsuit. Given that the injuries from a car accident can affect a person’s life indefinitely, putting together the building blocks of a car accident claim from the very beginning is the best way to ensure damages are paid, and an overview of what to focus on an accident scene and as part of the recovery process will follow below.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 16, 2019 in Family Law

Romantic relationships can be amazing experiences filled with love and affection. They can also be filled with fights and abuse, whether that be physical or emotional. Physical abuse is often more easily seen, with bruises, scrapes, or broken bones. Emotional abuse is harder to view at a glance, so it may take some self-reflection to realize you are in an emotionally abusive relationship. Once you do, it is important that you take steps that protect your emotional wellbeing and mental health, such as leaving the relationship and getting a divorce. If you notice the following behaviors in your relationship, it may be an indication that your relationship is abusive.

They Rush You

In this context, “rushing” is used to mean the other person will try to push past the boundaries that you have set. They may try to move the relationship along faster than you wish and do not show any respect for your comfort. This type of behavior shows that they have a lack of respect for your boundaries and do not think you should be comfortable in the relationship.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 16, 2019 in Immigration

Especially nowadays, many previously attainable ways to emigrate to the United States are either off limits or so locked down with restrictions that some people feel stuck. However, marriage to a U.S. citizen does allow a person to obtain permanent residency in most cases, as long as you can establish your bonafides as an actual couple. Before you marry, it is still a good idea to ensure that you understand what your rights are and the obligations you must fulfill before any status is granted.

K Visas

The most common ways for someone to bring over a foreign spouse is to petition for an immigrant visa if they are already married, or a K visa if they are engaged. A K visa is a nonimmigrant visa, not an immigrant visa, and all it does is allow the foreign spouse to enter the U.S. and get married. It does not permit them to stay beyond 90 days unless the wedding has taken place. While the foreign spouse is obtaining their K visa, the U.S. citizen spouse should be filing a Petition for Alien Relative, which then allows them to adjust their status from within the country, as opposed to having to go back to their homeland.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 14, 2019 in Personal Injury

Being bitten by a dog can be a painful experience, even if the dog is a smaller-sized breed. In fact, in many cases, smaller breeds can be more aggressive, due to a heightened fight-or-flight response. If a dog does, in fact, bite another individual, the dog’s owner will usually be held liable for any damages caused by his/her animal. Further, in some cases, the animal may be ordered to be put down. Retaining the services of an attorney having experience in dealing with injuries allegedly caused by dog bites can be critical to recovering compensation.

Instances of dog bites happen all the time, although more often the victim is a child. Given that children are drawn to animals, and in light of the fact that, sometimes, children may tease the animal to the point of annoyance, triggering a response, one issue that sometimes comes up is that the dog was provoked into biting the injured individual. A discussion of the law in Illinois on dog bites, as well as how provocation affects the result, will follow below.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 09, 2019 in Immigration

In this day and age, anyone who enters the United States, even with valid status, must be careful to ensure they obey all immigration laws. However, misinformation is always being circulated. One of the situations where this is very common is in applying for and using a visitor’s visa (B1/B2 classification). There are some enduring misconceptions on what that visa allows you to do and what it does not, and if you use it inappropriately, you may wind up with immigration consequences that are annoying at best, and permanent at worst.

B1/B2 Is a Nonimmigrant Visa

The standard U.S. visitor visa is a B1/B2 combination. A B1 visa is a business visa, while a B2 is a tourist visa. They are usually issued in combination because even those who enter the country on business will very often engage in some sightseeing and leisure time, and those who enter on tourist visas may wind up doing something in furtherance of their business or employer’s interests; it is simply easier to issue a combination visa than to police every tourist’s itinerary and time.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 08, 2019 in Family Law

If your marriage was unable to continue and you went through the divorce process, you may not expect to be emotionally affected by your ex getting engaged or remarried. However, the marriage being over does not necessarily mean that you feel nothing for your ex at all. Whether it is nostalgia for the good times you had or for another reason, chances are good that many people feel something when they see their ex has permanently moved on with their life. It may be beneficial to you to read through some information such as the tips below to help you cope with your ex’s engagement or remarriage.

Be Wary of Social Media

Seeing social media posts about your ex's new marriage or how happy they are with their new significant other will probably cause some emotion for you. You may need to unfollow your ex on social media in order to keep those feelings out of your life. It is also not good to go to your previous spouse's social media and constantly check it. It is not going to end up helping you at all; it will only hurt you.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 07, 2019 in Personal Injury

Going to school is a large part of a child’s life for well over a decade, but many parents do not have the time or ability to transport the child to and from school every day. Instead, a significant number rely on county or municipal school buses to drive the child, and while precautions and standards are used to make them as safe as possible, children can still face substantial injury in a school bus accident.

Further, the many stops the buses make, coupled with the unpredictable behavior of children, present additional chance of injury that is partially addressed by enacting laws specifically related to safety precautions other vehicles must follow when driving near school buses. Some examples include stopping when the stop signal arm is extended and flashing lights engaged, as well as stopping when children are boarding or unloading generally.

Unfortunately, drivers do not always follow these rules, and the consequences can be tragic. Three siblings were recently killed, and another child hurt in northern Indiana when a 24-year-old driver hit the children crossing the street to board the bus, despite the stop arm being extended and the flashing lights activated. While responsibility in this crash is straightforward, responsibility is not always obvious. To help parents understand their rights in case their child is injured in a school bus accident, a discussion of how liability is determined will follow below.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on December 29, 2018 in Family Law

Life after you go through a divorce will presumably change in many ways. You may have a new living situation or a new job, and there will be some adjusting to do with your new single life. Divorce is a stressful and emotional process, and at times it may feel that it is hard to move on after divorce. It is crucial to get back to living your life to the fullest as soon as possible after a divorce. If you follow these tips you can help make your life after divorce as fulfilling as you wish.

Do What Is Best for You

Doing what is best for you can mean a variety of things. You should still pay attention to others and not act completely selfishly, but taking this time to do whatever you need to cope will make the time and stress pass faster. Many people are uncertain after divorce and have doubts. Forcing yourself to make decisions about what feels right will help you recover from the divorce by allowing yourself to do those things you may have been afraid to during marriage.

Continue Reading ››