Orland Park Child Custody Attorneys

If you are seeking a divorce involving shared children or have child custody concerns outside of divorce, it is an important matter that directly affects you and your children’s future, which makes having an experienced Orland Park child custody attorney on your side paramount. 

Parenting Matters in Illinois

In Illinois, child custody is now called parental responsibilities, which breaks down into both parenting time (formerly called visitation) and decision-making power (formerly called legal custody). Don’t let these modern terms, however, confuse you – the meanings behind them have not changed, and child custody remains focused on who will be making important decisions on behalf of your children moving forward and how you will divide your time between your children.

Decision-Making Power

What you may think of as legal custody is now called decision-making power, and it refers to which parent will take on the responsibility of making big-picture decisions for your children as they arise. The kinds of decisions involved include:

• Decisions about where your children will attend school
• Decisions about the medical care your children will receive
• Decisions about your children’s extracurricular activities
• Decisions about your children’s religious upbringing

You and your children’s other parent can share this responsibility, one of you can tackle it on your own, or you can divide the responsibility according to the kinds of decisions being made.

Parenting Time

Parenting time refers to each parent’s visitation schedule – when the children will be living with you and when they will be with their other parent. One of you will become the primary residential parent – for the purposes of school enrollment. If one of you has your shared children more often than the other, this decides the matter. If, however, you divide your time with your shared children straight down the middle, you’ll need to designate a primary residential parent, which will determine their school district. 

If you and your ex can devise a parenting time schedule that works for you, you’re welcome to do so. If not, however, the court will likely hand down a standardized schedule (whether it divides parenting time between you equally or renders one of you the primary residential parent in actuality). 

Child Support

Both you and your children’s other parent are responsible for supporting your children financially throughout their childhoods, and this is where child support payments come in. Child support helps to balance each parent’s contributions according to his or her financial means. This is why, even if you and your children’s other parent divide your time with your kids evenly, the higher earner among you will likely be ordered to pay child support to the other. 

Turn to an Experienced Orland Park Child Custody Attorney for the Legal Guidance You Need

The compassionate Orland Park child custody attorneys at Arami Family Law, Inc, are well acquainted with exactly how difficult child custody concerns tend to be, and we have the experience, legal insight, and commitment to help. For more information, please don’t wait to reach out and contact us today.