Divorce in DuPage County During the Illinois Shelter in Place

On March 20, 2020, Governor Pritzker issued a "stay at home" or "shelter in place" order for Illinois residents.  The Shelter in Place order will go into effect on Saturday, March 21, 2020 at 5:00 PM in order to mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus or COVID-19.  We discussed in an earlier post how our firm implemented a safety plan to continue to serve our clients and we are here to help lessen the stress at home for the family while respecting orders and recommendations to limit groups and gatherings. So how can we help you when you need to resolve your divorce or parenting issue?

Shift to time-tested and proven-effective alternative dispute resolution options

First, we recommend a shift away from the traditional ways to divorce and co-parent and toward utilizing the time-tested and proven-effective alternative dispute resolution options that Birt Law has been successfully practicing for over 15 years. Our Services page covers all of the alternative dispute resolution options we offer at Birt Law, however, each case is unique and if you need help in determining what method of dispute resolution works best for you and your family, contact us.  We love discussing alternatives to litigation for family matters.

Video Conferencing Apps

Second, we recommend that you download a few apps that can make not only communicating with our firm easier but also can help you maintain relationships with friends and family members during the Coronavirus era.  Divorce in DuPage County during the Coronavirus era means that video conferencing will become the new norm.  At Birt Law we have long offered virtual legal services and thus we can easily educate any client how to meet with us virtually through video conferencing such as via FaceTime, Skype, or Go To Meeting.  We can also handle nearly all matters via telephone conference as well if that is a preference.

DuPage County Divorce and Parenting Options and Recommendations

Third, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the following divorce and parenting options and recommendations:

• Litigation: If your divorce or parenting issue is already in court, we can minimize your time away from other obligations by preparing your case and appearing on your behalf as soon as regular court operations resume.  We also assist qualified parties by offering payment plans until circumstances stabilize. During unknown financial times, hire a firm like Birt Law that offers payment plans, credit card payments and flat fees to help manage your legal services.

• Mediation: Court restrictions and closings have absolutely no effect on mediating your divorce or parenting dispute through Birt Law.  We handle mediation via telephone and video conferencing. After mediation is complete, you can then be one of the first parties back into court to finalize your divorce or parenting orders and move on to a new chapter in your life. Hire a mediator that offers reasonable rates set by the Chief Judge rather than sets high private rates which are often inflated and hard to pay during these times. Birt Law offers the same rates for court ordered mediation and and private mediation to help those seeking alternatives to court and litigation.

• Collaborative Divorce: Similar to mediation, court closings and restrictions have no effect on the settlement based divorce process.  In fact, this is the best time to negotiate and finalize your divorce before the economy becomes more uncertain.  We have been handling attorney meetings and settlement meetings via telephone and video conferencing with the added benefit of no commute to and from the attorney's office or meeting locations.  Hire a Collaborative Attorney that offers flat fee rates to predict costs.  We have been offering flat fees, unlike many other Collaborative Divorce firms, for years which allows us to offer the same high level of service for a more reasonable budget.

• Settlement Based Divorce: If you have done the hard work with a mediator or divorce financial analyst, you will still need a "closing attorney" to draft and finalize your divorce judgment or parenting allocation judgment. Again, flat fees rule the day and we have been offering a flat fee for this service for over 10 years.

• Parent Coordination: If returning to court every thirty days does not sound like a pleasant experience, and mediation has failed, consider working with our attorney and parenting coordinator to assist during times when the court is not able to adequately address your specific parenting concerns. This alternative dispute process will significantly lower your litigation and mediation fees while improving your relationship with your child and the other parent. Our attorney and Parenting Coordinator works with parents via telephone, email, Our Family Wizard, and video conferencing and all agreements reached are then drafted by the PC and submitted to the parents for signature via our secure client portal.

• Divorce Financial Analyst: Our in-house divorce financial analyst can be retained to mediate your financial divorce or draft a majority of your legal documents at a cost lower than the average cost for retaining an attorney.  He is available to help with the over-site of our divorce attorney that has focused on divorce and family law for over 15 years.

Don't let the recent news and orders prevent you from seeking divorce and family law services to help you live a better family life for yourself and your children.  We can assist you just the same all while considering the difficult challenges ahead. In the coming days we will break down further the benefits of divorce and parenting alternative dispute resolution that will become the new face of divorce in DuPage County and Illinois.