Melrose Park Child Custody Attorney
Melrose Park Child Custody Attorney
Illinois Child Custody Lawyer Helping Families in Melrose Park
Whether or not you are anticipating a contentious child custody battle during your divorce or as a result of separating from your child’s other parent, it is important to know that you do not have to go through this difficult process alone. From issues of allocating parenting time to modifications, Arami Law can help. With an experienced Melrose Park child custody attorney on your side, you will have a dedicated advocate to help with your case every step of the way.
Understanding the Allocation of Parental Responsibilities in Melrose Park
Under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA), parents in Melrose Park no longer go through a process in which a court awards legal and physical custody either solely or jointly to the parents. Instead, the IMDMA was amended so that the terminology surrounding child custody has been replaced with the language of “parental responsibilities.” Now, courts allocate parental responsibilities, which include both significant decision-making responsibilities and parenting time.
Melrose Park Significant Decision-Making Responsibilities
Significant decision-making responsibilities are one part of the parental responsibilities that need to be allocated in a Melrose Park child custody case. Significant decision-making responsibilities are defined under the IMDMA as things that bear significant importance to the child’s life. Previously, parents might have known this type of parental responsibility as “legal custody.” In other words, significant decision-making responsibilities do not necessarily concern where the child lives and spends time, but rather how the parents make important decisions about the child’s upbringing. These parental responsibilities often concern the following:
- Education;
- Health; and
- Religion.
When courts allocated significant decision-making responsibilities, they may consider a wide variety of statutory factors that help to illuminate what is in the best interests of the child. In allocating significant decision-making responsibilities, the IMDMA cites some of the following as factors that the court can take into consideration:
- Wishes of the child, when the child is mature enough to express a reasoned and independent preference;
- Wishes of the parents;
- Needs of the child;
- Mental and physical health of the parents and the child;
- Ability for parents to cooperate with one another;
- Level of each parent’s previous participation in making significant decisions about the child’s health, education, and religion;
- Distance between the parents’ current residences; and
- Any presence of domestic violence or physical violence.
Parenting Time in Melrose Park
The IMDMA defines parenting time as when a parent is responsible for taking care of the child’s day-to-day activities. Parenting time used to be known as physical custody or visitation, and it involves the time a child actually spends with the parent.
Many of the factors listed above for allocating significant decision-making responsibilities also are taken into account when the court allocates parenting time.
Contact a Melrose Park Child Custody Lawyer
Do you have questions about child custody or the allocation of parental responsibilities in Illinois? An experienced and compassionate child custody lawyer in Melrose Park can assist you. Our lawyers have years of experience providing services to families with a wide variety of child custody matters. Contact Arami Law today to learn more about how we can help you.
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