Chicago Child Custody Attorney

Chicago Child Custody Attorney

If you are facing a divorce that involves shared children, need a post-divorce child custody modification, or need to hammer out child custody terms with your children’s other parent outside of marriage and divorce, having the professional legal guidance of an experienced Chicago child custody attorney is always well advised. Child custody is the pillar of your parental rights and should not be left to chance. 

Parental Responsibilities

In Illinois, child custody divides into both parental responsibilities and parenting time, and parental responsibilities guide how you and your children’s other parent will make the primary decisions that are central to parenting, such as:

• Where your children make their primary home 
• Your children’s schooling
• Which extracurricular activities and travel opportunities your children participate in
• The healthcare your children receive
• The religious education your children receive

This responsibility can be addressed by both of you together, but one of you may be afforded the authority to break a tie in the event that negotiations become hopelessly deadlocked. The kinds of decisions that parents need to make practically around the clock will remain the job of the parent who has the kids at the time. Finally, any emergency decisions that need to be made will fall to the parent who is most readily available. 

Parenting Time

The other prong of child custody is parenting time – or what you may think of as physical custody – which determines the schedule for when the kids are with each of you. You and your children’s other parent can negotiate whatever schedule best suits your family, but if you need the court’s intervention, it will base its decision on the best interests of your kids and, as such, will take the following best-interest factors into careful consideration:

• The emotional ties that have been established between each child and every other family member
• Each parent’s ability and inclination to provide the children with the care and attention they need
• Each parent and each child’s preference in the matter – when the child has the age and maturity to weigh in
• Each parent’s involvement in raising the children thus far
• Each child’s level of adjustment to the current living situation, including in terms of their home, school, and community
• Each parent’s ability and inclination to continue fostering a close, loving relationship between the children and their other parent

Child Support

Because child support is the state’s tool for ensuring that both parents uphold their financial responsibility to their children, child support is closely intertwined with child custody. The child support calculation includes a range of primary variables, but the primary determinative factors tend to be each parent’s share of parenting time and each parent’s income. 

It’s Time to Consult with a Chicago Child Custody Attorney

Child custody concerns are of the utmost importance, and the compassionate Chicago child custody attorneys at Hammer Serna & Quinn recognize what you are up against and are driven to help. Because your child custody arrangements are too important to leave to chance, you shouldn’t wait to reach out and contact us for more information about what we can do for you today.