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Overview of Parenting Time Law in Illinois

Parenting time or “visitation” refers to the court-ordered schedule when each parent will spend time with the children. It is one of the most common areas of dispute in a child custody or divorce case. The court considers various factors when determining which days the children will spend with each parent. When the parties cannot reach an agreement, there are several ways the court can resolve the dispute.

How the Court Decides Parenting Time

When arranging a parenting time schedule, the court will consider the best interests of the child. This is a list of factors under Illinois law that will be examined by the judge. Practically speaking, however, judges often consider the following:

The work schedule of each parent, including the hours they work and which days they have off every week
The school and activity schedules of the children
The distance between the parties’ place of employment and the school
The distance between the parties’ place of employment and their homes
The age of the children
Whether other family members are available to watch the children or drive them to and from school while a parent is at work. The court may prefer that a parent be available to do this over a babysitter.
Any other factors that may be worth considering when determining the parenting time schedule.

Resolving a Dispute

When the parents cannot reach an agreement on the parenting time schedule, the court can send them to mediation, appoint a guardian ad litem, have a pretrial conference with the attorneys, or make a ruling at a hearing or trial.

Mediation

If the parents do not agree on a parenting time schedule within a few months after the case has started, the judge will likely order them to participate in mediation. Mediation is a process where the parents meet with a third person, called a mediator, who speaks with both of them and attempts to help them reach an agreement regarding parenting time, decision-making, and related matters. Mediation is not meant to be a confrontational process, but rather a genuine attempt to work out an agreement by allowing each parent to tell their side of the story and come up with ideas which could help resolve the dispute. If the parents do reach an agreement, they can decide to finalize those terms by putting them into a court order. If they do not reach an agreement, then the dispute will be addressed in other ways.

After mediation has taken place, the mediator will inform the parties and their attorneys as to whether or not an agreement has been reached, and will update the judge as well.

Guardian ad Litem

A guardian ad litem, or “G.A.L.,” is a child custody attorney who can be appointed by the judge to make a recommendation on how to arrange the parenting time schedule and resolve other related issues. The guardian ad litem is a sort of “neutral” attorney. They do not represent the mother or the father. They represent the children and their best interests. The guardian ad litem will perform an investigation, then report back to the judge with recommendations. As part of the investigation, the guardian ad litem can do several things, the most common of which include:

Speaking to both parents
Speaking to the children
Performing home visits to either parents’ home. This usually occurs when there is an allegation of an unsafe home environment for the children.
Speaking to school staff
Speaking to counselors and medical professionals when permitted
Speaking to other family members or third parties who may have information that is relevant to the investigation and pending issues.
Reviewing any documents, records or information that may be relevant to the pending issues.

One advantage to having a guardian ad litem on a child custody case is the parents can submit information and evidence to them in a less formal way, and over a longer course of time than they would be allowed to do in a formal court hearing or trial. There are specific rules of evidence and court procedures which control how and when certain evidence may be accepted by the court, and whether or not certain evidence can be submitted. When a guardian ad litem is on the case, the parents can submit any evidence or information they want to the G.A.L. in an attempt to shape his or her understanding of the overall situation.

The downside to having a guardian ad litem on a case is the cost. The guardian ad litem is an attorney who bills for their time, similar to how the parties’ attorneys will bill. Both parties are typically ordered to split the costs of the guardian ad litem. In most cases, the costs are split 50/50 between the parents.

Whether or not a guardian ad litem will be appointed onto a case will depend on the circumstances, and the judge. Some judges prefer to automatically appoint a guardian ad litem when mediation is not successful. Other judges do not like to appoint a guardian ad litem unless they feel it is absolutely necessary, and prefer to discuss the issues directly with the parties and their attorneys.

Pretrial

If each party is represented by an attorney, the judge can schedule a pretrial. This is a court date where the parents’ attorneys meet with the judge in a private conference to discuss the disputed issues in the case. The attorneys will make their arguments as to what the parenting time schedule should be. The judge will then let the attorneys know how he or she would likely rule if the case proceeded to a full hearing or trial. If the parties agree to resolve the case based on what the judge said at pretrial, then an agreed order can be entered with a parenting time schedule. The purpose of a pretrial is to save the extensive time and costs of a preparing for and conducting a full hearing or trial. The vast majority of disputes in family law cases are resolved by pretrial for this very reason.

Hearing or Trial

This is a court date where the parents have a formal argument about the parenting time schedule in front of the judge. Evidence can be submitted, witnesses can testify, and each side makes their arguments. The judge then makes a ruling, which is then entered into a court order or judgment. A hearing can occur in the middle of a child custody case to establish the temporary parenting time schedule which the parents must follow while the rest of the case is being resolved. A hearing or trial can also occur at the end of the case to establish the more long-term or permanent parenting time schedule.

How to Get Parenting Time

To request parenting time through the court system, one or more petitions may need to be filed:

Petition to Establish Paternity: This petition asks the court to adjudicate one or both parties as the biological parents of the minor children. If the parties are married, and the children were born during the marriage, the court will not need to go through this step because the parties will be presumed to be the biological parents under the law. However, if the parents were never married, then a petition to establish paternity will need to be filed to start the process for requesting parenting time.
Petition for Allocation of Parenting Time: This requests that the court enter an order establishing a parenting time schedule for the parties.

After the petitions are filed, the other parent will need to be given official notice of the proceedings. This means that they will either have to voluntarily register onto the case, or be served with the petitions by a process server. The court will likely set a court date a few months out to check in on the status of the case. A hearing date must be requested from the judge in order to argue what the parenting time should be. As described above, the judge may send the parties to mediation or appoint a guardian ad litem before setting a hearing date to determine the parenting time schedule.

Examples of Parenting Time Schedules

Alternating weekends: The children live with one parent most of the time, and the other parent has the kids every other weekend, from Friday afternoon to Sunday evening. This is the most common example of a parenting time schedule. In addition to the alternating weekends, it is common to have some time during the week, such as a few hours after school on one or two days to have dinner with the children.

Split weeks: One parent has the children from Monday to Wednesday every week, the other parent has them from Wednesday to Friday every week, and they alternate weekends having the children from Friday evening to Sunday evening.

Alternating weeks: The parents have the children for an entire week, then exchange them on a specified day every week. For example, the children stay with father all week, then mother picks them up on Sunday evening. Then mother has the children all week, and father picks them up on Sunday evening, and they alternate weeks in the same way afterwards. There can also be a day set in the middle of the week to see the other parent for a few hours, so that the children and the parents do not go an entire week without spending time together.

Equal Parenting Time

In the past, courts preferred for children to live with one parent most of the time, and for the other parent to have alternating weekends and a few hours during the week. Over the years, views have changed and more judges in Illinois now share the same viewpoint as the majority of states, whereby equal parenting time should be allowed unless there is a good reason not to have such a schedule. Having an equal parenting time schedule can reduce child support payments substantially. For this reason, it is highly disputed in many child custody cases. An equal parenting time schedule is not guaranteed, and whether or not it will be granted can depend on the facts of each case. Generally speaking, courts prefer that the parents live nearby each other. Also, the parents’ work schedules, and the children’s school and activity schedules must allow for equal time without putting any sort of strain on the kids. For example, if a parent lives far away, and the children will have to wake up extra early to get to school on time, a judge may want the children to spend all school nights with the other parent. Also, if one parent has to get up extra early for work, and they need a babysitter or a grandparent to take the kids to school in the morning, the court may want the other parent to have the kids overnight during the week.

The parenting time schedule that is awarded will be based on the specific facts of each case, including what works best for the parents and the children. If you are having issues with arranging a parenting time schedule, or issues seeing your children, call or text (815) 207-9570 to schedule a consultation with Navarro Family Law. Michael Navarro is a child custody lawyer with over 10 years of experience representing parents in family law cases in the Will County, Kendall County and DuPage County areas.