Parental responsibilities mean the power to make decisions for a child and spend time with them. It used to be called legal justice for child custody, but that term is no longer used in Illinois. You do not need a court order if you are the natural mother or if you get along with the other parent.A court order from the judge protects the rights of each parent. It will also allow the other parent to follow the rules about parental responsibilities.
- If there is no court order granting you custody of your child, you and the other parent must follow the custody rules.
- Married or in a civil union? Both parents have the same custody. You do not have to allow your partner to visit your child, but you cannot hide your child's location from your partner for more than 15 days.
- You and the other parent were never married – only the natural mother has custody, unless the child has lived with the other parent for 6 months or more.
- If there is a support order: The parent who receives the support has custody.
You do not need a court order if you are the natural mother or if you get along with the other parent. But, without a court order, it can be difficult to get help from the court or the police if you have problems with the other parent.
What can I do to help my Children Deal with our Divorce?
- Children and Teens Speak: A free four-hour session designed to help your children deal with the stress of a domestic relationship case. This program is available for children ages 5 to 17. Ask your judge for more information and a paper reference for the program.
- Contact the counselors, social workers, or psychologists at your child's school to identify available local resources.
- Rainbows for all Children: This non-profit organization is available to help your children understand and recover from loss, be it death, divorce, deployment, or other trauma that occurs in your home.
What if we are able to solve these Problems on our Own?
If you can agree on parental responsibilities on your own or through mediation, you can go to a hearing officer, that is, someone who works for the court and can help you at the request of the judge. With the hearing officer, you will write everything down in a Parenting Plan to give to the judge. You will need a note from the judge to schedule an appointment with a hearing officer.
Separation
When the parents separate, due to a breakdown of coexistence, or when this has never occurred, it must necessarily be established who of the two parents will assume responsibility for the custody and personal care of the common children. Thus, in principle, parents are empowered to establish or grant this possibility to the family judge by mutual agreement, who will decide in a balanced way and under the criteria of sound criticism with which the children should stay, taking into account always the principle of the best interests of the child. A visiting regime will also be regulated in favor of the father from whose care the children are taken, since it is necessary to maintain the ties of affection, treatment and communication of these with both parents.
Indeed, it will be up to the family judge to determine the pertinent elements, in the context of the particular case and taking into account the facts and circumstances proven in the process, to provide the minor children with a specific content, establishing their importance in the relationships. Parent-child.
Evaluating and determining the best interests of children and adolescents requires setting certain elements, relationships and weighting criteria, applying all the procedures that guarantee the rights of minors, to finally establish what is best for the child and determine who should exercise their custody and personal care. This does not conflict with the fact that, in some cases, the judge may conclude that, given the specific circumstances, custody is exercised by both parents, under equal conditions.
Consider talking to an attorney
If your child's other parent has filed a custody lawsuit, you may want to speak to a lawyer. It is particularly important to speak with a lawyer if the other parent verbally, emotionally, or physically abused you or your children.
You cannot depend on the other parent's attorney to protect your interests, even if you and the other parent agree on most things. If an attorney filed papers for the other parent or appeared in court for the other parent, that attorney cannot represent you.
Accept service of custody documents
If you know that the other parent filed a custody case, you may be thinking about avoiding service of the custody papers. Avoiding service of custody papers will not benefit you, and could cause problems for you. Avoiding serving the papers does not mean that the other parent cannot get custody of the children. It may take a little while to start the case, but as a result you may not know what is going on in the case. And the court may make important decisions about your child without hearing your opinion.
