Mental Health Divorce in Chicago, IL

How a Person with a Health Issue May View the Divorce Process

The worldview of a person with a mental illness, personality disorder, or addiction is generally adversarial; therefore, they tend to see a significant number of people as "enemies" and engage in "all or nothing" thinking. Those with personality disorders are also more likely to make patently false statements, behave as bullies, and experience the perceived rejection associated with divorce very differently than others. When negotiating a divorce or child custody issue, this kind of reasoning can make it very difficult for the attorney to help clients reach an amicable resolution.

Clients and opposing parties who suffer from mental illness can quickly escalate the need for an attorney experienced in aggressive, adversarial litigation. When a case involves mental health issues including undiagnosed personality disorders, the attorneys at Weiss-Kunz & Oliver, LLC, will take the steps necessary to reveal the truth, including:

• Advocate for supervised parenting time when children are involved;
• Seek to bring out behavior patterns in the deposition and in court cross-examinations;
• Request a 215(a) examination by a court-ordered psychologist or psychiatrist who will make recommendations to the court regarding the mental health of the opposing party; and
• Provide guidance and advice as to how clients can best protect themselves and their children during a divorce when mental health issues can be exacerbated by stress.

Maxine Weiss Kunz is an aggressive litigator in court and an assertive negotiator outside of court, using strategy and evidence to protect her clients and their children.

How the Illinois Family Courts Deal with Health Issues

While the Illinois family courts can order a spouse/parent to participate in counseling, most people get more out of the process when they choose it voluntarily rather than being forced into therapy. Family court judges can order psychological or psychiatric evaluations (Rule 215a) for the purposes of considering the parent's mental health when allocating parental responsibilities and parenting time (requiring the assistance of child custody evaluators and other professionals). In some cases, the child of a divorcing couple may have mental or cognitive disorders, Autism, or Down syndrome, adding significant financial burden to the parents and added difficulties in developing a realistic parenting plan. All in all, divorce and custody issues when mental illness or mental disorders are a factor can be extremely delicate and require an attorney with the necessary knowledge and experience as well as sensitivity and compassion.

Special Protection for Children with Severe Health Issues

When a divorce involves a child or children with a severe health condition, the financial and emotional stress can be heightened even more by concerns around health insurance, daily care of the child and ongoing medical expenses. In this case, it is critical that your attorney understand the establishment of a Support Trust pursuant to Section 503(g) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution Act.

In accordance with this section, jointly or individually held assets may be set aside in trust for the support, health, and general maintenance of any minor child, dependent or incompetent child.

Such a trust may be a necessity in cases where one party has failed to make child support payments, is unemployed or incarcerated or when parties fail to agree on the funding of ongoing medical treatments.

The attorneys at Weiss-Kunz & Oliver, LLC have extensive knowledge and experience in the law governing the establishment of Support Trusts and have successfully navigated trials concerning the health and welfare of children with challenging medical conditions.