What is a Restriction of Parental Responsibilities?

If you are getting divorced and have minor children from your marriage, you may know that the court no longer awards child custody to the parents, but instead allocates parental responsibilities. The term parental responsibilities includes both important decision-making responsibilities (what many Chicago residents knew previously as “legal custody”) and parenting time (what we used to call “physical custody” and “visitation”). Generally speaking, courts want to allow both parents to play an important role in the life of their child,[...]

Renewed Efforts in Illinois Toward Equal Parenting Time

Under Part VI of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA), courts presume that parents in Chicago who get divorced should both play a role in their child’s life unless there is a clear reason that one of the parents should be excluded. For example, in cases in which one parent has been convicted of a violent crime or has been tied to acts of family violence or child abuse, the court might determine that it is not[...]

Relocation Mid-School Year After a Divorce

If you are thinking about filing for divorce at the start of the New Year, if you plan to separate from your spouse, or if you have recently accepted a new job, you have likely been thinking about the potential impact that moving will have on your child. When you are divorced, moving mid-year with a teenager can present significant challenges. Those challenges can be legal ones—concerning Illinois law on relocation—as well as psychological or emotional challenges associated with a[...]

Parenting Courses in Chicago Custody Cases

If you are filing for divorce in Chicago and have children from the marriage, it is important to know what the state requires in terms of parent education. While parents often know and understand their own children’s needs better than an individual or group tasked with providing parent education after a divorce, what many parents do not realize is that their kids will have reactions to the divorce—as well as to parenting time and parental responsibilities—that they may not have[...]

Can My Child Refuse to Visit the Other Parent?

Sometimes the trouble in carrying out a court’s visitation order has nothing to do with the parents themselves, but with the child. Despite discussing visitation orders and schedules with your child, he or she may refuse to go with the other parent when it is that parent’s parenting time. Some parents have experienced their child crying, screaming, and physically struggling when it comes time for visitation exchanges. If you find yourself in this situation, it may seem like you have[...]