Child Custody Types in Illinois
When it comes to the topic of divorce, no issue is more controversial than child custody. Most often, regardless of the relationship between parents, the parents still want the best for their child or children. The topic of child custody is a complex one and in Illinois as there are multiple avenues to deal with it. Illinois law now uses the terms “residential or majority parent,” “parental decision-making,” and “parenting time” instead of custody and visitation.
Residential or Majority Parent:
This term replaces Physical Custody and/or Legal Custody. This establishes which parent the child resides with a majority of the time. However, the other parent still has “parenting time” or what was previously known as visitation. The specifics surrounding visitation hours will vary from case to case. This residence determines where the child is enrolled for school purposes. It also establishes which parent claims the child for state and federal tax related purposes, absent a written agreement otherwise by the parents. Last, it establishes which parent is the legal custodian for any other state or federal purposes.
Parental Decision-Making:
Next, this term replaces the general term “custody.” Therefore, parental decision-making pertains to significant decisions for children’s healthcare, education, extracurricular activities, and religion customs. Furthermore, parents may have joint or equal parental decision-making for significant decisions pertaining to the child or children. Or perhaps, one parent has sole parental decision-making. For instance, a parent with sole parental decision-making has total discretion in relation to important decision that will be made for the child. In this instance, the other parent will not have a say in regard to decisions involving religion, education, or health care. Lastly, in joint decision-making, the other parent does have a say in important decision making. Most often, more issues and conflict arise with this method.
Parenting Time:
Replacing the term “visitation”, one parent may have sole or majority parenting time or the parents may have equal or shared parenting time. Shared or equal parenting time allows equal time for both parents to spend with their child. However, there are certain requirements for shared or equal parenting time to be successful. First, both parents must live nearby, preferably in the same school district. Next, both parents must have a work schedule that allows them to be available for day-to-day caregiving. Lastly, parents must have an overall good relationship and the ability to avoid conflict and resolve issues.
Shared Parenting Time:
Next, shared parenting time is an exception to the more typical majority parent schedule. This is when one parent cares for the children most of the weekdays while the other parent has alternating weekends and 1 to 2 weekday evening parenting time, usually from after school and until bedtime when the children are returned to the majority time parent. A parent having sole parenting time is the least common. This usually results from the other parent being unavailable or adverse to the wellbeing of the children.
