In previous decades, legal childcare arrangements often favored the mother after a couple’s divorce. A father’s time with his children was relegated to weekends and holidays, and sometimes not even that. Because of this skewed historical trend, many people are surprised to find that child custody laws in many states have been updated to reflect modern family trends.
In Illinois, child custody has been divided into two important areas: Allocation of parental responsibilities (also known as “custody”) and parenting time (also known as “visitation”). Together, these two elements make up what is known as a “parenting plan.” If you are getting divorced, you likely have many questions about how parenting time is managed in Illinois. In this blog, we will do a deep dive into parenting plan arrangements and encourage you to contact an Illinois family lawyer for help with your case.
How Do Parents Divide Visitation in Illinois?
Unless there is a good reason to do otherwise, under Illinois law both parents are assumed to be necessary to a child’s well-being and development. Therefore, both parents are permitted to be part of the visitation, or parenting time, schedule unless there is evidence that one or both parents are abusive or neglectful of the child or other parent. Even in cases where one parent has abused the other parent in the past, courts are still hesitant to remove a parent from the child altogether and will often order limited or supervised parenting time.
Illinois courts encourage parents to create a parenting time schedule together. If parents have filed for a contested divorce and do not agree about how to allocate parenting time, a judge can order parents to attend mediation in an effort to resolve their differences. Only if parents truly cannot negotiate productively or safely will a judge get involved in creating a parenting plan.
Likewise, parents are encouraged to allocate parental responsibilities on their own without court assistance. Parental responsibilities are generally divided into four areas: Education, healthcare, religious upbringing, and extracurricular activities. Parents may decide to share decision-making responsibilities equally, to divide them between themselves, or to have one parent make all the major decisions on behalf of the child while the other parent is just available for parenting time.
After parents submit their petition to get divorced, they will need to submit a proposed parenting plan that combines their parental responsibilities and parenting time proposals. If parents are filing for an uncontested divorce, they will just submit one parenting plan for approval by the judge. If the divorce is contested, each parent will need to submit their own proposal. A judge will review the proposals and ensure that they are in the child’s best interests before putting them in an enforceable court order.
Call a Wheaton, IL Visitation Attorney
If you are dealing with the stress of divorce, you need to have an experienced DuPage County, IL visitation attorney on your side. At Mirabella, Kincaid, Frederick & Mirabella, LLC, we handle all aspects of divorce and family law, so whether you need help creating a parenting plan, getting a child support order, or even managing issues of paternity, we can help. Call us today at 630-665-7300 to schedule a confidential consultation.
Source:
https://www.ilga.gov/
