Emancipation is often discussed like it is the severing of the parent/child relationship, something that the minor can do in cases where they would be better off striking out on their own. However, the actual effects of emancipation are more complicated and more narrow than a true severing of the relationship. Emancipation in Illinois is governed by the Emancipation of Minors Act of 1980, which allows for the emancipation of mature minors. Emancipation is a serious decision and should only be considered after people understand its effects, when it is available, and how to go about it.

The Effects of Emancipation

Emancipation is less like a severing of the relationship between a parent and a child and more like a child reaching adulthood. It severs a parent’s rights of control over the minor rather than the relationship as a whole, so things like inheritance would still function normally. Emancipation allows minors to enter into binding legal contracts, have financial and physical separation from their parents, and make medical decisions for themselves. It is also often used to allow homeless minors to take fuller advantage of government services than they could as part of their family.

Although the vast majority of child custody disputes are settled without either party resorting to illegal or otherwise improper tactics, those sorts of events do happen. One of the most serious of these illegal tactics is a parental abduction, in which one parent absconds with the child without permission. This can be particularly difficult to deal with if the parent leaves the country because getting foreign courts to send a child back to their home country can be both expensive and time-consuming.

In order to help prevent those types of abductions, the federal government places restrictions on passport applications for minors. The law requires both parents to consent to the child's getting a passport, so that one parent cannot simply get the child a passport and then leave the country. However, there are important exceptions to this rule that single parents should be aware of.

The Two-Parent Consent Rule

Illinois law provides parents who are owed child support many different ways to collect on their debts. Most of these are civil penalties, such as wage garnishments, but for severe cases of unpaid child support, the state can bring criminal charges. Illinois law creates the crime of failure to support, also known as criminal nonsupport, which punishes parents for avoiding their support obligations. Parents who owe or are owed large amounts support should both understand what it takes to trigger a prosecution for criminal nonsupport, as well as the procedure for how they get initiated.

What Criminal Nonsupport Is

Criminal nonsupport is a crime that can be committed in several different ways. First, if a supporting parent has made no payments in more than six months or they have fallen behind on their payments by more than $5,000, then they may be guilty of criminal nonsupport. Second, if the supporting parent has failed to make any payments within a year or is more than $20,000 behind on their payments, they may also be guilty. Finally, a person can also commit criminal nonsupport by leaving the state with the goal of evading child support payments. However, to do that they must have a child support debt of over $10,000 or have made no payments in the last six months.

As of 2011, both same-sex and opposite-sex couples may enter civil unions. Civil unions are similar to marriages, but there are differences. Civil unions are granted by the county clerk's office. To legally enter a civil union, both partners must be 18 years old or older and they may not be blood relatives.

Before you enter a civil union with your partner, talk to an experienced family attorney about your rights and obligations following the union. These rights differ from those afforded to married couples. As of 2014, same sex couples have the right to marry in Illinois under the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Marriage Fairness Act. However, some couples continue to opt for a civil union instead.

Applying for a Civil Union

To apply for a civil union license, a couple must appear at the county clerk's office together and present valid identification, such as their driver's licenses or passports. They must then fill out and sign the civil union license application and pay the $60 license fee. The license is issued while the couple waits and remains valid for the next 60 days, during which time the couple can be joined in a ceremony anywhere in the county.

There is more than one way for Illinois couples to effectively end their marriages. The most common method by far is divorce. When a couple gets a divorce, they go through the legal process of ending their marriage by dividing their property and arranging for their children's care and support. For some couples, an annulment is an option. If the couple can prove that their marriage is not valid, an annulment can quickly render their marriage void. Reasons for an annulment include one partner was too young to consent to marriage at the time of their wedding or one partner was married to another individual when the couple married. The final option is legal separation.

Legal separation is not the same as the type of separation that often precedes a divorce. This type of separation is discussed in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. With a legal separation, the couple must file paperwork and submit it to the court as if they were going through the divorce process. They then go before a judge to have their case heard and settled, which may include the same provisions as a divorce, such as child custody arrangement, child support, spousal maintenance, and property division. Essentially, a legal separation is almost identical to a divorce. The only difference between a legal separation and a divorce is that a legally separated individual can not remarry unless he or she opts to get a divorce.

Why Would a Couple Choose a Legal Separation Instead of a Divorce?

There are a few reasons why Illinois couples take this route instead of a divorce. For some, a legal separation is actually the first stage of the divorce process. This is because it is possible to save a lot of money by legally separating prior to divorcing. The couple can work out their property valuation and division before other issues enter the picture this way. They can also enjoy certain tax advantages.