What Illinois considers when awarding parental responsibilities

 Posted on November 01, 2021 in Child Custody

When you split from your Illinois spouse and the two of you share a child together, you need to work through dividing parental responsibilities as part of your divorce. You also need to determine if one of you is going to be responsible for paying the other child support. This depends to some degree on the custody arrangement you and your ex or the court decide on.

Per the Illinois General Assembly, the state’s family court system considers the best interests of your child when allocating parental responsibilities. The courts typically consider the following elements and areas, among others, when making decisions about parenting time and decision-making responsibility.

Your child’s desires

If your child is at an age where the court thinks he or she should have a say in where to live and when it may allow your child to voice these preferences.

You and the other parent’s willingness to cooperate

The court may also consider you and your child’s other parent’s willingness to communicate and cooperate with one another when the need presents itself. Whether you and the other parent cooperate when it comes to decision-making is of particular importance.

Your child’s current living situation

Courts may, too, take into account your child’s current living situation and how well-adjusted he or she is with regard to school, home environment and so on.

Depending on the final allocation of parenting time, one of you may have to pay the other child support. This may hold true even if you decide to share parental responsibilities 50/50.