Top Chicago Child Custody Lawyer
Top Chicago Child Custody Lawyer
If you are facing a child custody concern, the matter is primary to your parental rights, which makes seeking professional counsel from the outset critical. Whether your case relates to divorce, a post-decree modification, or a child custody issue between parents who were never married, a top Chicago child custody lawyer can help.
Child Custody in Illinois
The state of Illinois divides child custody arrangements into the following two categories:
- Parental responsibilities, which addresses parental decision making
- Parenting time, which sets the parenting schedule for each parent
Each of these is a primary concern in relation to your parental rights.
Parental Responsibilities
Parental responsibilities determine how you and your children’s other parent will address the important matter of making critical parenting decisions moving forward. The kinds of decisions involved include all the following:
- Decisions related to your children’s education
- Decisions related to your children’s healthcare
- Decisions related to your children’s religious education
- Decisions related to your children’s participation in travel and extracurricular activities
- Decisions related to where your children make their primary home
When it comes to making these all-important decisions, you and your ex have all the following options:
- You can make each decision together by negotiating between yourselves.
- You can negotiate each decision together while affording one of you the authority to break a tie in those instances when your good-faith efforts to find common ground fail.
- You can divide this decision-making authority between yourselves according to the kind of decision that needs to be made.
- One of you can be awarded sole parental responsibilities, which translates to that parent making each primary decision on their own.
An important point to make in relation to parental responsibilities is that decisions like the following remain the responsibility of the parent who is with the children at the time:
- Everyday decisions that pop up around the clock
- Emergency decisions that need to be made on the spot
Parenting Time
The schedule that determines when your children are with you and when they are with your ex is a matter of parenting time. Illinois courts base every ruling that involves children on their best interests, and parenting time is no exception. In the process, they turn to best-interest factors, such as the following:
- Each parent’s parenting time preference
- The preference of each child who is mature enough to voice their reasonable opinions
- The degree to which each parent has been involved in caring for the children to date
- Each child’s age and needs, including any special needs
- Each parent’s ability to successfully address these needs
- How well the children have adapted to their current home, school, and community
Barring extenuating circumstances, Illinois courts prefer to maximize the amount of parenting time each parent is awarded.
Turn to a Top Chicago Child Custody lawyer for the Help You Need
The compassionate Chicago child custody lawyers at Arami Law, Inc. appreciate the gravity of your child custody case and are committed to employing the full force of their experience and legal insight in pursuit of its best possible resolution. Learn more about how we can help you by contacting us today.
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