Custody Lawyers Chicago

Custody Lawyers Chicago

Custody concerns are common to divorces involving children, and because these concerns affect your parental rights, they’re exceptionally important. Custody matters can also pop up outside the realm of divorce, including custody modifications and custody issues related to unmarried parents. Whatever custody issue you are facing, an experienced custody lawyer in Chicago can help. 

Your Parental Responsibilities

In Illinois, the courts no longer use the terms legal custody and visitation but instead use parental responsibilities which incorporate parenting time and decision-making to each parent.  Once these parental responsibilities are established then it is incorporated into an Allocation Judgment that is entered by the Judge, making the parental responsibilities (both parenting time and decision-making) into an enforceable court order.

Your Decision-Making Responsibilities

The meanings, however, haven’t changed. Decision-making correlates with legal custody in that it relates to which parent, or both parents, will make important decisions on behalf of the children. These decisions relate to the big-picture questions as a parent and include:

• Your children’s schooling and education
• Your children’s medical care and treatment
• Your children’s extracurricular activities
• Your children’s religious upbringing

Parental responsibilities are an important facet of your child custody arrangements, which are now encompassed into an allocation judgment, and these decisions can be either sole or joint. 

Your Parenting Time

Parenting time correlates with what you probably think of as visitation, and this important matter is often hotly contested in divorce. Ultimately, if you and your divorcing spouse can create a parenting time schedule that you are both willing to agree to, the court is almost certain to accept it. Because you obviously have a close understanding of your family’s scheduling needs and your children’s best interests when it comes to dividing their time between the two of you, keeping this matter between yourselves is almost always preferable.

Your Options

If your negotiations with your soon-to-be-ex have stalled, fear not – it isn’t uncommon. You have other options available. If you cannot agree to an aspect of parenting time, whether, for example, that is routine parenting time, holiday time, vacation time, summertime, or special events with the children then the court has options to encourage the parties to reach a mutual agreement prior to litigation, including:

• utilizing mediation
• court-appointed attorneys for the children
• and other experts.

One caveat to negotiations is that, if your divorcing spouse is more interested in causing friction than in negotiating in good faith, you may be better off taking the matter before the court. 

Look to Experienced Custody Lawyers in Chicago for the Legal Guidance You Need

Custody concerns can be one of the most difficult divorce concerns of all, and this is why the experienced and compassionate custody lawyers at WARD FAMILY LAW LLC in Chicago dedicate their practice to helping clients like you obtain favorable custody, visitation, parenting time, decision-making, parental responsibility, and allocation judgment overall terms. For more information, please don’t hesitate to contact us today.