Lafata Law Blog

Orders of Protection in Illinois What is an Order of Protection? In Illinois, an order of protection is a court order which provides victims protection from threats or abuse, including domestic violence, and is only available to family or household members. An Order of Protection can be used to...

What is Paternity? When a child is born to unwed parents, parentage is required to establish a parent's legal relationship to a child. Parentage includes the relationship between the mother and child (maternity) and the relationship between the father and child (paternity). When parentage is est...

Modifying a Parenting Plan in Illinois Over time, circumstances change between parents that require a parenting plan to bemodified. These circumstances can include a job change, an increase in workload, or evenmoving to a different state or city. A parenting plan can only be modified by a court ...

Who Gets to Keep the House After A Divorce? During a marriage, couples make countless financial decisions. When spouses seek a divorce, those decisions, and the property acquired, must be divided. Illinois is considered an “equitable property” state, meaning property distribution after a divorce...

What is Spousal Maintenance? During a divorce proceeding, a judge may order one spouse to pay another spouse money to help support them. This is referred to as “spousal maintenance” or “alimony.” However, a judge is not required to order spousal maintenance. How Does a Spouse Get Maintenance?...

Is your ex interfering with your parenting time?  Is your ex interfering with your parenting time?  When it comes to family law, often parenting time (formerly known as visitation and child custody) is of the utmost importance to the parents involved. While many parents are committed to acting ...

What's a Parenting Plan? In Illinois, a parenting plan is a written agreement that allocates significant decision-making responsibilities and parenting time. The parties are required to submit a parenting plan to the court within 120 days of the date of filing a petition for allocation of parent...

What does it mean when a crime is "aggravated"? If you are charged with an “aggravated” crime, you could be facing some serious consequences. “Aggravated” means made more serious by attendant circumstances. The penalty range may be more than you have bargained for based upon some factor, whether...

What is a Summary Suspension? A statutory summary suspension is the suspension of driving privileges as a result of a DUI. Once in effect, you cannot legally drive. A summary suspension goes into effect 46 days after the confirmation of a refusal to submit to testing or failure of chemical test....

What's next? Call a Lawyer. Traffic court may seem like no big deal, but your CDL is your livelihood. CDL can be suspended much easier than a normal license. Two serious moving violations in a 36-month period will result in a CDL being suspended for a minimum of two months. Even if you were driv...

What does it mean?  Understanding minimum and maximum sentencing ranges for any given charge is critical to determining how to proceed in criminal cases. A knowledgeable lawyer knows this and can help you navigate this confusing but area of the law.  Prior to pleading guilty, a judge must admo...

The Warning to Motorist The Warning to Motorist informs a driver suspected of driving under the influence of the consequences to their driving privileges for refusing field sobriety testing or submitting to testing and testing above the legal limit. Prior to requesting a driver to submit to test...

Petition to Revoke Sentence You've already plead guilty and been sentenced to probation. You are prohibited from taking any controlled substances and are required to submit to random drug testing. You were notified by your probation officer that you tested positive, and they are sending your cas...

Mental Health Court Alternative Programs A number of crimes are committed because a person is in the throes of mental illness. If this happens to you or someone you know, contacting a lawyer may help with getting the necessary medical help, but also keep a serious crime off your criminal record....

Should I just plead guilty? If you are charged with a criminal offense, it is imperative that you consult with a lawyer. You need to discuss the facts of your case and the potential consequences you will face. A criminal conviction can have serious consequences related to your ability to secure ...

A good attorney can help you keep your license.  When you get arrested for driving under the influence your license will automatically become suspended 46 days after confirmation of your summary suspension. That's to say, you will lose your driving privileges unless you talk to an attorney quick...

It's legal...right? Even though it is legal for adults to possess regulated amounts of cannabis, smoking “adult-use” cannabis (rather than medical cannabis) in your car is illegal under 625 ILCS 5/11-502.15. Additionally, the odor of cannabis coming from your vehicle allows a police officer to s...

Specialty Courts  The law is always evolving. It is important to have a lawyer that follows the changes in the law, especially when the changes are designed to benefit the accused. Addiction is a medical disease recognized by the DSM5. Many counties in the Chicago land area have created special...