New Illinois child custody laws have changed the way we talk about child custody and visitation in Skokie. Under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5/), what we used to call child custody we now refer to as the “allocation of parental responsibilities.” It is important to understand how these changes to the law can impact your child custody case. As such, you should reach out to an experienced Skokie child custody attorney to learn more about factors the court will take into consideration when it allocates parental responsibilities.
At Arami Law, we have years of experience assisting parents with complex child custody cases, and we can assist with your case today.
Under Illinois law, the allocation of parental responsibilities has two major aspects:
When parents can agree to matters concerning the significant decision-making responsibilities for the child and parenting time, the law allows them to develop a “parenting plan.” In creating a parenting plan, the parents can have more control over issues concerning child custody and visitation. When parents cannot agree, the judge will allocate parental responsibilities based on what is in the best interests of the child.
According to the law, parenting time involves providing caretaking functions for the child, which is defined as “tasks that involve interaction with and care of a child.” This is largely what we used to discuss in terms of physical custody and visitation. Caretaking functions can include but are not limited to the following:
There are numerous other caretaking functions that can be part of parenting time. A Skokie family law attorney can tell you more.
What we used legal custody is now discussed in terms of significant decision-making responsibilities. A child does not need to reside with the parent—and the parent does not even need to provide care-taking functions for the child on a regular basis—in order to be allocated significant decision-making responsibilities.
Examples of significant decision-making responsibilities include but are not limited to:
There are many other significant decision-making responsibilities concerning the upbringing of a child. When a court allocates parental responsibilities, it will allocate these significant decision-making responsibilities to the parents based on what is in the best interests of the child.
The allocation of parental responsibilities in Illinois can be a very complicated process, but a Skokie child custody lawyer can assist with your case. If you have questions or concerns, you should speak with an advocate at our firm today. Contact Arami Law for more information about how we can help with your family law matter.
We are here to help you succeed and protect what you value most.