So much has changed for people here in Illinois and elsewhere, but some things never change. Some married couples still want to go their separate ways, which means filing for divorce. At least for now, filing for divorce may not be as easy as it was at the beginning of the year. Famous twin and child star Mary-Kate Olsenrecently found this out the hard way.
Olsen requested an emergency divorce filing because she claimed her husband terminated the lease on their apartment. The judge denied her request, ruling that her situation does not constitute an emergency. This could indicate that family courts are only going to hear what they consider “serious” matters for the time being. For this reason, couples in this situation may need to find an alternative way to resolve their issues.
While Olsen deals with the fact that the New York courts will not hear her case, she and her husband could use mediation to begin negotiating their own settlement and/or go before a private judge, but not everyone can have their own judge. Even though it may still take some time to get before a judge to approve the settlement, at least everything would be worked out in advance. This may convince the court to allow the filing just to approve the agreement.
What does this mean for Illinois couples who are ready to get things started? That may be a challenging question to answer at this time. However, the prospect of going ahead and entering into negotiations to work out a divorce settlement could be a good place to start. Doing so has a number of advantages over relying on the courts for decisions, the least of which is that the parties can tailor their settlement to meet their family’s particular needs and retain control over what the future will look like.
