Northfield Child Custody Lawyers

Child custody is a primary divorce concern, but related concerns can also arise for parents who are not married and in relation to post-divorce modifications. Regardless of the impetus behind your child custody case, it’s to your advantage to have an experienced Northbrook child custody lawyer in your corner.

Child Custody in Illinois

In Illinois, child custody breaks down into two primary concerns that include both the following:

Parenting time, which corresponds with what you may think of as physical custody
Parental responsibilities, which corresponds with what you may think of as legal custody

Each represents an important aspect of your parental rights. It’s important to note that courts in Illinois are always guided by a set list of best interest factors when they make child custody determinations.

Parenting Time

Parenting time establishes when your children will be with you and when they will be with their other parent. If one of you becomes the primary custodial parent, the children will spend the majority of their overnights with this parent. If not, both of you will divide your time with your shared children more equally.

If you and your divorcing spouse are able to resolve this important term between yourselves, you can create whatever kind of parenting time schedule works well for your family, but if you need the court’s guidance, you can expect to receive one of its standard schedules.

Parental Responsibilities

Parental responsibilities refer to the important parenting task of making big-picture decisions on behalf of the children, including decisions like the following:

The medical care the children receive
The extracurriculars the children participate in
Where the children attend school
The religious education the children receive

The options when it comes to assigning parental responsibilities include the following:

One parent having sole parental responsibilities and making each of these decisions entirely on their own
Both parents making each of these decisions together
Both parents making each of these decisions together but assigning one parent the authority to break a tie if it becomes absolutely necessary to do so
Both parents dividing this decision-making authority between them according to the category of decision that needs to be made

The Factors that Help Determine the Children’s Best Interests

Some of the primary factors that help Illinois courts determine children’s best interests include:

The preferences of those children who are considered mature enough to weigh in
The preferences of each parent
The relationship between each parent and each child
The level of each parent’s commitment to fostering an ongoing relationship between the children and their other parent
The degree to which each parent has been involved in raising the children to date
Each child’s needs and each parent’s ability to address these needs
The degree to which the children’s current living situation – or the status quo – is working for them

Seek the Legal Guidance of an Experienced Northfield Child Custody Attorney Today

The knowledgeable Northfield child custody attorneys at Hammer Serna & Quinn, LLC, are committed to implementing the full force of their legal skill and experience in pursuit of child custody terms that support your rights as a parent. Learn more by reaching out and contacting us today.

Northfield Child Custody Lawyers