Category: Child Custody

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.

In just over 51% of custody decisions, both parents agree that the mother should become the custodial parent. In roughly 29% of custody decisions, this is made without any assistance from the court or from a mediator. 11% are determined with the assistance of a mediator, and 5% are determined following a custody evaluation. By comparison, only 4% of custody cases require going to trial before primary custody is decided. Overall, 91% of custody decisions do not require the family court to decide. 

Over 30,000 Illinois couples chose to divorce in 2009, according to the United States Census Bureau. Each of those couples were faced with tough decisions regarding a wide range of issues, but those with children were confronted with the task of creating a new lifestyle for their family. A DuPage family law attorney knows that it can often be difficult for divorcing parents to work together, since that inability may have led to the breakup of the marriage in the first place. However, children may fare better when going through the intense life change that divorce brings when parents can compromise and put aside their differences for a time.