Category: Child Custody

Child support is essential to the health and well-being of children following divorce. When a parent refuses to shoulder this responsibility, it creates a significant burden for the primary parent and the children. In Illinois, there are several mechanisms in place that help protect children and help parents collect child support arrears.

Parental responsibilities in Illinois go beyond writing a check or picking the child up from school. Unless a parent is prohibited from contacting their child by the court, both parents are responsible for maintaining the health and welfare of during their parenting time with the child. These responsibilities include:

Child support orders in Illinois can be amended at any time, and for any number of reasons. Either parent can request that the orders be amended as circumstances change and the needs of the child evolve. Parents merely need to show that there has been a substantial change in circumstances that warrant modification of the orders.

When one parent lives in Illinois and the other lives in another state, Illinois courts use the Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act to determine which state's court should have jurisdiction to handle the child custody dispute. The law is a federal one that has been adopted by 49 states, including Illinois. It is used to determine initial jurisdiction as well as modification cases and emergency situations. While UCCJEA cases are rare in Illinois, custody lawyers do handle them occasionally.

Closely-held corporations, partnerships, and LLCs often require shareholders and partners to provide the business with a prenuptial agreement. Businesses are incredibly valuable financial assets and dividing them under a divorce can be exceedingly complicated and expensive. These mandatory prenuptial agreements are used to protect the operations of the business from the personal issues of its individual shareholders or partners.

Illinois specifically allows for the criminal prosecution of a parent who prevents a child from returning to the custodial parent or who interferes with another parent’s right to visitation. Abduction brings to mind images of a stranger that kidnaps children and carries them away to unknown locations. The sad reality is that most child abduction cases are undertaken by someone the child knows, usually a family member or parent.

There is a clear consensus among most mental health professionals that divorce is difficult for children, but many are coming forward to suggest that joint custody arrangements make the process easier for all involved. Recent changes to Illinois divorce law have changed the way that custody is defined, a revision that was designed to make joint parental involvement a reality for many divorcing families.

Parents have the legal obligation to provide financial support for their children until they reach the age of majority. In Illinois, that age is typically 18. When a child is disabled, however, one or both parents may be required to continue financial support under certain circumstances.

On January 1st, 2016, the State of Illinois made several changes to the Illinois Dissolution of Marriage Act. One of these changes includes the shift from using "custody" in a divorce decree to "parental responsibilities." The altered wording is intended to give both parents equal standing before the court. The intent is the same and the allocation of parental responsibilities determines who will have decision making authority for the minor children of a marriage. It is among the most important decisions that the court will make. As such, the courts typically take their time to consider all factors before making a decision.