Category: Child Custody

If an Illinois parent endangers a child’s mental, emotional, moral, or physical health, he or she is considered a threat to the child’s safety and can be denied parenting time or responsibilities. If the parent is a convicted sex offender, the court may terminate his or her parental rights. Abusing family members, addiction to alcohol or other drugs, or living with a convicted sex offender are other situations that can result in parental rights denial.

Parents should strive to work together in creating a parenting-time schedule for the holidays that prioritizes the children’s best interests. They can, for instance, come up with a plan that allows them to share school vacations or alternate holidays every other year. They can also agree to divide some holidays in half, and where possible, designate fixed holidays to either party.

In Illinois, children don’t have the prerogative to choose which parent to live with and can only do so after turning 18. Illinois courts view a person under 18 as a minor who cannot make crucial legal decisions. When a child turns 14 years, courts may take his or her preferences into account. Courts ensure that final decisions about parenting time and responsibilities serve the best interests of the child.

Illinois has raised the bar higher for one parent to restrict the other parent’s parenting time. This restriction is executed only when usual parenting time is proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be a danger to the child’s health and well-being, such as threatening the psychological and physical health of the child.

When children are born out of wedlock in Illinois, establishing paternity is required to ensure a father's rights and the rights of his children are protected. Illinois law assumes paternity in families where the parents are married, but it does not when the father and mother are not married. Without established paternity, a child's rights to a father's property and other benefits, and the father's parental rights and privileges, can be at risk.

In a divorce, children can struggle with moving between two homes as time is spent with both parents, but nesting provides an alternative that lets the children stay in the marital home while the parents alternate. In Illinois, this is an option for parents to consider as they work on the custody and living arrangements. It has the potential to lessen the stress children endure in the divorce process.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder affects many couples who pursue divorce, and this means it comes into play in child custody cases. This disorder is difficult to overcome, and the parents fighting for custody of their children against a narcissist will find the struggle to be quite intense. By better understanding the disorder and its potential effect on children, parents can do what they need to do in order to protect their kids.

Medical conditions, both in the child and in on one of the parents, can have a direct impact on the decision about custody in an Illinois divorce. All of the issues handled in custody decisions, including visitation, custody, support, and property division, become more complex when weighing medical needs. Understanding these impacts is important when entering child custody decisions.

When a divorcing parent has safety concerns around the other parent, the courts in Illinois often set up supervised visitation opportunities. Many situations can put a child's safety at risk, and parents have the right to request supervised visitation for the other parent if they feel a safety issue exists. Understanding what this entails and how it may protect children will help parents move forward with custody arrangements and make the best requests from the courts.

Parents who are addicted to drugs have a negative effect on their children and there is a strong risk of abusive behavior. In Illinois divorces, co-parents can petition for changes to custody arrangements because of this correlation. If a parent feels that the other parent is putting the child at risk due to drug abuse, and they have enough evidence of the drug abuse problem, they can petition the courts to take away custody.