Adoption

Adoption is a legal procedure which establishes a new family relationship between the adopting parents and the child who is being adopted. After the completion of the adoption process, the adopting parents have the same rights, duties, and responsibilities to the child as the birth-parents would have had.

Some general rules apply to adoption proceedings. A single or divorced person, or a couple (unmarried or same-sex) can adopt a child. However, if the adopting persons are married, both the husband and wife must join in the petition unless they have been separated for over a year. A child who is over the age of fourteen years must agree to being adopted. #adoption,

Name Change

You can change your name for almost any reason. However, the reason cannot be illegal or fraudulent. For example, to avoid your debts.

The judge may ask you a few questions about the reason for your name change or your background.

Some common reasons to change your name are:

• Getting married,
• Getting divorced (learn more about name change after divorce),
• You don't like your current name,
• Making a political statement,
• For a religious reason, or
• Avoiding an abuser. #namechange,
  
  
  

Gun Control Bill

Senate negotiators announced on Sunday that they had struck a bipartisan deal on a narrow set of gun safety measures with sufficient support to move through the evenly divided chamber, a significant step toward ending a yearslong congressional impasse on the issue.

The agreement, put forth by 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats and endorsed by President Biden and top Democrats, includes enhanced background checks to give authorities time to check the juvenile and mental health records of any prospective gun buyer under the age of 21 and a provision that would, for the first time, extend to dating partners a prohibition on domestic abusers having guns.

It would also provide funding for states to enact so-called red-flag laws that allow authorities to temporarily confiscate guns from people deemed to be dangerous, as well as money for mental health resources and to bolster safety and mental health services at schools. #gunbill,

Animal Abuse

 In Illinois, it’s a crime to abuse animals in any way, including:

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• beating, tormenting, starving, or overworking any domestic or wild animal
• abandoning an animal where it could become injured or hungry, suffer from exposure, or end up under the charge of animal control
• poisoning animals on purpose, and
• leaving pet dogs or cats for a long period of time under conditions that expose them to extreme heat or cold and results in death, injury, hypothermia, hyperthermia, or frostbite.

Animal abuse is generally a misdemeanor. However, it bumps up to a felony if:

• the person had a previous conviction for the same crime
• the cruelty was intentional and led to the animal’s serious injury or death
• the animal was tortured, or
• anyone other than a licensed vet intentionally killed a pet with carbon monoxide.#animalabuse,

Rape

Illinois law defines rape as committing unlawful sexual intercourse with a person, without consent from that person, usually through force or intimidation. A lack of consent can include the victim's inability to say “no” to intercourse because of intoxication from drugs or alcohol. #rape,