Joint vs. sole custody in Illinois: what’s the real difference?

Illinois law no longer uses the terms “joint custody” and “sole custody.” Under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, courts allocate parental responsibilities. These have two separate parts: significant decision-making and parenting time.

For parents in a Cook County divorce or parenting dispute, this distinction is essential.

Joint vs. sole decision-making

Joint decision-making: Both parents share responsibility for significant decisions in the areas allocated to them jointly. Depending on the parenting plan, these can include education, health care, religion and extracurricular activities. In practice, parents must communicate and agree on major decisions in those areas.

Sole decision-making: One parent has authority over the significant decisions assigned to them. The other parent keeps parenting time and makes routine and emergency decisions during their own time. In practice, the parent with authority can make those major decisions without the other parent’s agreement.

Illinois law doesn’t require both parents to share significant decision-making. The court allocates it according to the child’s best interests.

Decision-making and parenting time are separate

A parent can have sole decision-making and still have substantial parenting time. Parents can also share decision-making even if the child spends more time with one parent.

Sections 602.5 and 602.7 of the Act treat these as separate legal questions.

Example: A father could have sole decision-making for education, with a schedule giving him substantial weekday, weekend and holiday time. The mother could share decision-making for health care. Illinois law lets the court allocate responsibility subject by subject. It isn’t all or nothing.

How does a judge choose between joint and sole decision-making?

The judge applies the best-interests standard and the factors in 750 ILCS 5/602.5(c). These include:

• Each parent’s wishes, and the child’s wishes, given the child’s maturity.
• The child’s adjustment to home, school and community.
• Each parent’s past role in significant decisions.
• The parents’ ability to cooperate, and the level of conflict between them.
• Each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent.
• The child’s needs, the parents’ schedules and the distance between their homes.
• Any relevant evidence of violence or abuse.

The court looks at the actual circumstances. It doesn’t award joint decision-making only because both parents are fit. It also doesn’t award sole decision-making only because one parent was the main caregiver.

Does conflict between parents mean sole decision-making?

No. Conflict is relevant, but it doesn’t decide the outcome. The court asks whether the parents can cooperate on major decisions.

A parent seeking sole decision-making should give specific examples of why shared decisions wouldn’t serve the child. Documented decision-making problems, and their effect on the child, carry more weight than general claims that the other parent is difficult.

What this means for fathers seeking more parenting time

Fathers who want a bigger role should separate two goals:

• More parenting time: A meaningful, workable schedule that serves the child’s best interests.
• Decision-making authority: The right to take part in significant decisions, jointly or in specific areas.

A father doesn’t need sole or joint decision-making to obtain substantial parenting time. Joint decision-making also doesn’t guarantee equal parenting time.

Illinois law presumes both parents are fit. It generally doesn’t restrict parenting time unless the statutory standard of serious endangerment is met. The court decides parenting time separately, based on the child’s best interests.

How Ward Family Law can help

We build a strategy around your family’s facts and your child’s needs:

• Evaluate the facts and evidence: Each parent’s past involvement, the current arrangement, the decision-making disputes and the evidence that matters most.
• Develop a parenting plan: Decision-making, schedules, holidays, transportation, communication and how to resolve disagreements.
• Negotiate or litigate when necessary: A fact-based case for the allocation you seek, through negotiation, mediation or the Cook County courts.

With over 25 years of family law experience, Jennifer R. Ward addresses both the legal framework and the practical realities of co-parenting.