Posted on March 27, 2018 in Personal Injury

Automated vehicle technologies are designed to reduce serious and fatal car accidents, but do they actually work? We are not referring here to fully automated vehicles, but rather to technologies that already are in a high percentage of cars on the road, such as adaptive cruise control or a lane-departure warning system.

According to a recent article in The Drive, automation that removes human error from driving could one day help decrease accidents that killed more than 40,000 Americans last year. However, that statement assumes that drivers in DuPage County and throughout the country not only are willing to use automated technology, but that they also understand how it works and are using it properly.

Otherwise, according to a study conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), automated technology could end up having no impact at all on the rate of motor vehicle collisions. What do you need to know about the benefits and limitations of automated vehicle technology?

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 Posted on March 26, 2018 in Family Law

The majority of divorcing couples understand the purpose of child support and spousal support. However, only few have heard of and are familiar with unallocated support. Unallocated support can benefit both parties and is an effective way to settle support issues in some divorce cases.

Unallocated Support Defined

An unallocated support payment combines child support and spousal support. It is a viable option when the spouse paying the support has a substantial income and the spouse receiving it has minimal to no income.

Currently, the Internal Revenue Service or IRS allows the spouse paying this type of support to treat the entire amount as spousal support. This allows their entire payment to be tax-deductible because spousal support, not child support is tax deductible. In addition, the IRS requires the spouse receiving unallocated support to pay income taxes on the entire amount they receive.

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 Posted on March 22, 2018 in Immigration

With false and misinformed claims regarding family immigration in the news on a seemingly constant basis in recent weeks and months, it is imperative that accurate information find its way to the forefront of the discussion. With malicious claims of “chain migration” being commonplace, it matters that everyone who needs true information about family migration be able to access it.

MYTH: If you are a naturalized U.S. citizen, you can sponsor any member of your family to immigrate.

TRUTH: This is false. Family-based immigration is restricted in that a naturalized citizen may only sponsor his or her spouse, children, and if he or she is over age 21, his or her siblings and parents. However, the mere ability to sponsor someone does not mean that your family member’s path to legal status in the U.S. will be somehow faster than anyone else’s; it conveys no real advantage, given that every documented immigrant must go through the same process. Also, a sponsor does not mean that a person’s application will be vetted any less stringently than someone’s application for asylum or an employment-based application for status, despite more misleading and inaccurate claims being perpetuated by media and government officials.

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 Posted on March 19, 2018 in Personal Injury

Are most drowsy driving accidents in DuPage County caused by college students who do not recognize the harms associated with fatigued driving? According to a recent report from Reuters, a new study suggests that while driving drowsy is as dangerous as driving while intoxicated, college students may see it as unavoidable and not a legal risk.

Recently, we discussed a new AAA study that shows drowsy driving crashes might happen even more frequently than researchers and safety advocates previously believed. Now, according to this study, undergraduate students potentially should be targeted for education surrounding drowsy driving motor vehicle accident risks.

Undergraduate Students May Be Riskier Drivers

When we think about particular age groups at risk of serious car crashes, we often think of teen drivers who are very inexperienced behind the wheel. However, as the recent study suggests, college-aged drivers may actually pose a greater risk for fatigued driving collisions than those in other age groups. The lead author of the study, Dr. Kenneth Beck, emphasizes that driving while drowsy is becoming frequently more recognized as "a source of crashes and deaths on highways.” Dr. Beck is a Professor of Behavioral and Community Health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health.

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 Posted on March 19, 2018 in Family Law

While most people are familiar with divorce, many are unaware of annulment. An annulment states that a marriage never legally happened. Although it is more difficult to qualify for an annulment than a divorce, an annulment makes sense in some situations. Let’s take a closer look at what an annulment is and how it differs from a divorce.

Annulment Qualifications

Anyone may file for divorce. Annulments, however, are only an option for couples that meet certain criteria. Your marriage may qualify for annulment if:

• You or your spouse could not consent to the marriage due to a mental disability, alcohol, drugs, or fraud.
• You or your spouse did not have the ability to engage in sexual intercourse during the marriage.
• Your or your spouse were under 18 years of age and there was no parental consent at the time of your marriage.
• Your marriage was not legal because you or your spouse was already married or you are relatives.

There is also a time limit for when you can request an annulment. This time limit depends on your particular circumstances.

• If you or your spouse did not consent to marriage because of mental disability, alcohol or drugs, you have 90 days from the time this was discovered to file for an annulment.
• A parent has the right to file for an annulment of their minor child’s marriage any time before they turn 18.
• If you or your spouse did not have the ability to engage in sexual intercourse and this was not known at the time of marriage, you have one year to file for an annulment.
• If you or your spouse were involved in multiple marriages, there is no time limit for an annulment.

How Annulment Differs From Divorce

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 Posted on March 15, 2018 in Immigration

There are two different ways a person can be ruled deportable, and determining the one that applies to an individual depends on his or her location. For instance, the determination will be different if someone is in the U.S. already, versus if he or she is still waiting to enter.

Inadmissibility

When someone is talked about as being inadmissible, it means that he or she is not officially in the United States, and he or she will not be permitted to enter— the individual meets a certain ground of inadmissibility. For example, any foreign national who has a history of immigration violations is likely to be ruled inadmissible (in other words, unable to be admitted).

There are numerous factors that an immigration officer will consider before reaching a finding of inadmissibility; however, if you are ruled to be inadmissible, this is not an appealable decision—in most cases, you will simply have to begin the process over again and hope for better luck.

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 Posted on March 13, 2018 in Personal Injury

Auto accidents in DuPage County can have many different causes, including distracted driving, aggressive driving, and drunk driving. While more reports have been assessing the links between drowsy driving and car crashes in Illinois and throughout the country, a recent news release from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety discusses a study that suggests fatigued driving is to blame for far more collisions than we previously believed.

Whether you commute home to DuPage County from your office in Chicago after a long day of work or regularly take family road trips, it is important to understand the risks of drowsy driving and to learn more about the recent AAA study.

Study Uses Footage of Drivers to Gauge Sleepiness Behind the Wheel

In what the AAA Foundation is describing as “the most in-depth drowsy driving research ever conducted in the U.S.,” researchers used a new method to expose the rates of drowsy driving collisions in the country. Drowsy driving—unlike drunk driving, for instance—is notoriously hard to detect in the aftermath of a crash. Indeed, according to the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center, we know that drowsy driving causes at least 100,000 crashes every year in which at least 40,000 people get hurt and 1,500 suffer fatal injuries. Yet as the Center underscores, a majority of drowsy driving crashes likely are “not properly counted.” Why is this? The answer is relatively simple: “it is hard to know for sure when someone is too tired to drive.”

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 Posted on March 12, 2018 in Family Law

If you are going through a divorce and have children under the age of 18, you will have to come up with a parenting plan. Since there is often confusion about what a parenting plan actually is and what to expect when one is drafted and implemented, we have decided to outline the basics in this informative article.

What Is a Parenting Plan?

A legal document that explains how a divorce impacts minor children is known as a parenting plan. It includes information on weekly parenting time, major life decisions, and other components about your children’s lives. In Illinois, a parenting plan must contain the following elements:

• Parenting time distribution: A parenting plan must outline where children will live and how much time they will spend with their other parent.
• Decision-making power: In some cases, only one parent will have the power to make important life decisions regarding their children. Other times, this decision-making power is shared between both parents. These decisions can relate to the children’s education, extracurricular activities, medical treatment, and religious upbringing.

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 Posted on March 08, 2018 in Immigration

Statistics from Safe Horizon show that one-in-four women and one-in-seven men will be severely physically abused during their lifetimes, with the majority of those instances occurring at the hands of someone in their immediate family or living situation. The figures are even higher in the immigrant community (both documented and undocumented) for many different reasons. However, many times, relief does not come as easily to immigrant victims. Many are unaware that they might even be able to apply for permanent immigration status in the United States, if they fit certain qualifications, when doing so might let them escape their abusers for good. If you are in such a situation, reviewing the criteria might possibly save your life.

Requirements to Apply

Despite the name, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) applies to anyone with nonimmigrant status, of any gender, who can prove abuse by a U.S. citizen related to them. Immigrant women are statistically more likely to experience partner violence than immigrant men—very often, it is a husband or father who establishes a residence and citizenship in the U.S. first, and then petitions for his wife and/or children, which then places them in a disadvantaged position, as their immigration status is then dependent on his. However, men do receive status under VAWA if they meet the qualifications.

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 Posted on March 05, 2018 in Personal Injury

Just how dangerous is it to use your cell phone while you are driving in DuPage County? If you are using a hands-free device while you are driving—which is legal—are you still putting yourself and others at risk of a motor vehicle crash? And if you violate Illinois law and use a handheld smartphone to talk or text while you are behind the wheel, is your risk of causing a collision significantly greater than drivers using hands-free devices or drivers who are not using cell phones at all?

A recent study conducted by the AAA Foundation for traffic safety addresses smartphone use and road safety, concluding that utilizing a cell phone while driving can significantly impair driving performance.

In other words, the report seeks to clarify once and for all that cell phone use behind the wheel does indeed greatly increase the risk of a serious auto accident. What else do you need to know about the conclusions of this study and its implications for traffic collision hazards in DuPage County?

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