Child Custody Attorneys Orland Park

Child custody directs your parental rights post-divorce – or in relation to children born outside of marriage – which makes allowing the matter the legal attention it deserves critical. Child custody laws are not only complex but also continue to evolve, which makes working closely with an experienced child custody attorney in Orland Park in your best interest. 

Parental Responsibilities

The State of Illinois no longer uses the term child custody arrangements and has replaced it with parental responsibilities, which includes the matter of parenting time. A primary aspect of parental responsibilities is the decision-making authority to address important parenting matters such as the following:

• Where your children attend school
• The health care your children receive
• The religious education your children receive
• The extracurriculars and travel your children participate in
• Where your children’s primary home is (if they don’t divide their time evenly between the two of you)

You and your children’s other parent can address this decision-making responsibility in any of the following ways:

• You can make each decision together (one of you may be granted the authority to break a tie if you cannot find common ground after putting in the necessary effort).
• You can divide the responsibility according to the kind of decision that needs to be made.
• One of you can make the decisions on your own. 

Parenting Time

Parenting time sets the schedule by which you and your ex divide your time with your children. If you and your ex are able to negotiate a schedule between yourselves, you won’t need the court’s intervention – which generally means one of its standard parenting time schedules. The basic parenting time options include that one of you will have the children the majority of the overnights – becoming the primary custodial parent – while the other has a visitation schedule or that you will divide your overnights more evenly. 

The Court’s Best Interest Factors

When the court sets parenting time schedules, it attempts to maximize each parent’s parenting time while focusing on the best interests of the children involved. The factors that guide its decision-making process include:

• The preferences of those children who are old enough and mature enough to voice a reasonable preference
• The preferences of each parent
• The physical and mental health of each parent and each child
• Each child’s unique personal and developmental needs, including any special needs
• Each child’s level of adjustment to his or her current home, school, and community (the court has a tendency to support the status quo when it is working well)
• Each parent’s ability and willingness to facilitate the other’s ongoing, healthy relationship with the children

Seek the Legal Guidance of an Experienced Child Custody Attorney in Orland Park Today

The compassionate child custody attorneys at SLG Family Law in Orland Park recognize the gravity of your child custody concern and take great pride in helping clients like you prevail with favorable case outcomes. To learn more about how we can also help you, please don’t wait to contact us today.