Kevin R. Johnson, Chicago Divorce Attorney, Custody Attorney, Parent's Rights

psychological warfare n. The use of various techniques, such as propaganda and terror, to lower an enemy's morale. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by  Houghton Mifflin Company . All rights reserved. --------------------------------------------- In my work in divorce and custody cases, I often represent and counsel people who are the victims of 'psychological warfare' tactics.  These tactics are used by opposing parties to break their opponents will or resistance -- in other words, to "take the fight out of them."   Some tactics include ingratiating or co-opting relatives or friends, giving the other person false or misleading advice, getting the person to distrust his or her own attorney, causing severe financial distress and hardship, and otherwise making the person's life miserable and nearly unbearable.  These tactics often cause...

There are several phrases that are often included in divorce judgments or other court orders related to children and parenting.  These sound innocent, and even good, at first glance, but they have been proven to be very-expensive when fights erupt over their meaning, and courtrooms are full of people fighting over court orders and divorce judgments that include phrases like this: REALLY BAD PHRASES  Visitation or parenting time " Every other weekend ."  Sounds OK, right?  Everyone should be able to figure out what weekend he or she has with the kids -- now add in some special occasions and holidays, a little swapping and trading (or banking) of a weekend or two, and now you've lost all track of what actual weekend each parent is supposed to have.  And what's worse, no court can really enforce language that is so vague. " Each party shall be responsible for paying 50% of the extracurricular activity expenses of the minor child ."  This one phrase, or ...