Child Matters

Parental Responsibility Lawyers (Formerly Custody and Visitation)
The term “custody” is often confused with the amount of time a parent spends with a child. For example, parents can have joint parental responsibility of a child with only one parent having parenting time with the child most of the time.

The law on custody and visitation changed on January 1, 2016. Now, in Illinois, legal custody concerns decision-making power. The question is who is going to make the major decisions in the child’s life? Answer: one parent alone or both parents together. The parties may share joint decision-making, which means they make the major decisions in their child’s life together. These decisions typically concern education, religion, medical decisions, and extra-curricular activities.

Allocation of Parental Responsibility: The parents can agree upon, or the court will award one or both parents decision-making ability for their children. This includes, but is not limited to, where the child goes to school, what religion the child is, who the child’s medical care providers are and what kind of medical care the child receives.

Joint Decision-Making (Formerly Joint Custody): Joint parenting is not for everyone. Joint parenting is a dynamic relationship between the parents. The court only awards Joint Parenting if the parents exhibit an ability to effectively and consistently cooperate in matters that directly affect the child or children. Joint parenting means that both parents make all the major decisions related to the child together. Joint parenting does not mean the parties have equal parenting time. Typically, in a joint parenting agreement, one parent will be given what is called “primary physical custody.” This just means that the child will reside mostly with that parent. Typically, the residential custodian will receive child support from the non-residential custodian.

A court will determine custody based on what is in the child’s best interest. The Court will consider the following factors in determining what is in a child’s best interest:

• The wishes of the child, taking into account the child’s maturity and ability to express reasoned and independent preferences as to decision-making.
• The child’s adjustment to his or her home, school, and community.
• The mental and physical health of all individuals involved.
• The ability of the parents to cooperate to make decisions, or the level of conflict between the parties that may affect their ability to share decision-making.
• The level of each parent’s participation in past significant decision-making with respect to the child.
• Any prior agreement or course of conduct between the parents relating to decision-making with respect to the child.
• The wishes of the parents.
• The child’s needs
• The distance between the parents’ residences, the cost and difficulty of transporting the child, each parent’s and the child’s daily schedules, and the ability of the parents to cooperate in the arrangement.
• Wether a restriction on decision-making is appropriate.
• The willingness and ability of each parent to facilitate and encourage a close and continuing relationship between the other parent and the child
• The physical violence or threat of physical violence by the child’s parent directed against the child
• The occurrence of abuse against the child or other member of the child’s household.
• Whether one of the parents is a sed offender, and if so, the exact nature of the offense and what, if any, treatment in which the parent has suffessfully participated; and
• Any other factor the court expressly finds to be relevant.
• The court will not consider the conduct of a parent that does not affect his/her relationship to the child.

If you have an issue with parental responsibility, the experienced family law attorneys at BRE Law are here to help. Please contact us to schedule a consultation.