If you are a parent residing in Illinois and you are planning to divorce, you and your child’s other parent will need to make decisions about the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time. You will have 120 days after you file for divorce to file a proposed parenting plan. If you and your spouse cannot agree on the terms of the plan, the court may need to intervene. There are a number of considerations the parenting plan must contain including decisions about when the child will spend time with each parent, each parent’s decision-making authority, and more.
Required Parenting Plan Elements
Parents are encouraged to make as many parenting decisions in advance as possible. The more issues parents work out during the creation of the parenting plan, the less likely they will experience conflict during their post-divorce co-parenting relationship.
Although you may choose to add additional items in your parenting plan, the required elements include:
- Which parent will be designated as the parent with the majority of parenting time
- The child's residential address for the purpose of school enrollment
- How parents will make significant decisions about the child’s life
- A parenting time, or visitation, arrangement including either a set schedule or a detailed method for determining each parent’s parenting time
- Transportation arrangements for the child
- A mediation provision addressing any future modifications to parenting time or parental responsibilities
- Each parent’s right to access the child’s medical records, school and child care reports, and extracurricular records
- Each parent’s right to be notified about child-related emergencies, health concerns, travel plans, or other major issues
- Information about how the child will communicate with his or her parent during the other parent's parenting time
- Each parent's address, phone number, employment address, and employment phone number
- A prerequisite that if a parent changes his or her residence that he or she must provide at least 60 days prior written notice to the other parent and inform him or her of the intended moving date and the address of the new residence
- Provisions addressing any future disputes about parental relocation
- Information about “the right of first refusal” which refers to parents’ right to gain additional parenting time if the parent who is assigned parenting time cannot fulfil his or her obligation
Contact a Kane County Parenting Plan Lawyer
It can be hard to reach an agreement about parenting issues when you are in the midst of a divorce. For help with child custody concerns, parenting plans, mediation, and more, contact MKFM Law. Schedule a confidential consultation with a skilled St. Charles family law attorney by calling us today at 630-665-7300.
Source:
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=075000050K602.10
