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Divorce Basics

janice dantes

By: Janice Dantes

 

Divorce continues to be a taboo topic for Filipinos. We are often taught to sweep these issues under the rug and never talk about it despite the “tsismis” among family and friends. As a result, Filipinos facing divorce, custody disputes, and disagreements with child support seek Divine intervention when they need counsel on these issues. Rather than asking, “What would Jesus Do?” when contemplating divorce, I hope more Filipinos consider asking “What would Janice do?”

Seeing that there are very few Filipino attorneys serving Chicago’s Filipino community with their family law issues, I have decided to focus my law practice in this area of law. I want to begin with some common divorce questions asked by my fellow kababayan.

“I was married in the Philippines, can I get a divorce?” The answer is yes, you can. Unlike the Philippines, divorce is legal in the United States and each state has its own set of laws. Divorce in the state of Illinois is governed by the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act and anyone residing in the state of Illinois for at least 90 days can file for divorce in Illinois.

“My spouse filed for divorce but I don’t want to divorce so I won’t sign the papers.” I see this a lot in our community, oftentimes with my female clients. You don’t need your spouse’s permission to get divorced. While it is easier to settle the issues with cooperation from your spouse, one spouse cannot stop the other spouse from pursuing a divorce.

Illinois is a no-fault state, meaning that neither party has to assign blame to anyone before getting divorced. Irreconcilable differences is all that is needed to pursue a divorce.

Thank you for reading. Until we meet again, love one another. To contact. please see my advertisement above for more information. Janice Dantes is an attorney focused on serving Chicago’s Filipino community. Her area of focus is family law. She was born at Clark Air Force Base in Angeles City and came to the United States when she was 3 years old.

Janice is a graduate of the University of Chicago and DePaul University College of Law. Her office is in downtown Chicago. If you would like to speak to her in English or Tagalog with your legal problem, please call (312) 546-5077 to schedule your free consultation.

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