Parent Rights in Illinois

The 2016 IMDMA reform

In 2016, Illinois enacted a comprehensive reform of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) that eliminated the words “custody” and “visitation” from the statute entirely. These terms no longer appear anywhere in Illinois family law.

The reform replaced those concepts with two distinct legal categories:

• Allocation of parental responsibilities — who makes significant decisions about the child's life (education, health care, religious training, extracurricular activities).
• Parenting time — the schedule of when each parent is physically with the child, replacing both “physical custody” and “visitation.”

The reform reflects the legislature's view that children benefit from maximum involvement of both parents, and that labeling one parent a “custodial parent” and the other a “non-custodial parent” created unnecessary conflict.

Significant decision-making responsibility (750 ILCS 5/602.5)

Under 750 ILCS 5/602.5, the court allocates significant decision-making responsibility for four categories:

• Education (school selection, tutoring, special education)
• Health care (doctors, medical treatment, mental health services)
• Religious training
• Extracurricular activities

Decision-making responsibility can be allocated jointly (both parents must agree) or solely to one parent for some or all categories. Joint allocation requires that the parents be able to cooperate; if the court finds that one parent has engaged in a pattern of domestic violence or that the parents cannot communicate, sole allocation to one parent may be appropriate.

In all cases, the court must allocate decision-making responsibility in the best interest of the child. There is no presumption in favor of either parent.

Parenting time (750 ILCS 5/602.7)

Parenting time governs the schedule of when each parent is physically with the child. It replaces the old concepts of “physical custody” and “visitation.” Under Illinois law, all parents have parenting time — there is no longer a “visiting parent” concept.

The court begins from the presumption that maximum involvement of both parents in the child's life serves the child's best interest. Parenting time is not automatically equal, but courts do not start with the assumption that one parent should have significantly more time than the other.

Best-interest factors under 750 ILCS 5/602.7(b)

Courts must allocate parenting time based on the best interest of the child. The statute at 750 ILCS 5/602.7(b) lists the factors courts must consider:

• The wishes of the child, taking into account the child's maturity
• The child's adjustment to home, school, and community
• The mental and physical health of all parties
• The ability of the parents to cooperate to make decisions, or the level of conflict between the parties
• The level of each parent's participation in past significant decision-making with respect to the child
• Any prior agreement or course of conduct between the parents
• The wishes of the parents
• The child's needs
• The distance between the parents' residences
• Whether a restriction on parenting time is appropriate (due to domestic violence, substance abuse, or other safety concerns)
• The willingness and ability of each parent to facilitate and support the child's relationship with the other parent
• Physical violence or threat of physical violence by a parent
• The occurrence of abuse against the child or other family member

How allocation is set

Both parents must file proposed parenting plans within 120 days of service of the initial petition (750 ILCS 5/602.3). The parenting plan must address the allocation of significant decision-making responsibilities, the parenting time schedule, holidays, vacations, communication protocols, and dispute resolution.

If parents agree on all parenting issues, they can file a joint parenting plan and the court will review it to confirm it is in the child's best interest before approving it. If parents disagree, the court holds an evidentiary hearing and makes the allocation based on the statutory best-interest factors.

The court can award one parent all significant decision-making responsibility, split it by category (for example, one parent handles education decisions, the other handles medical), or require joint decision-making for some or all categories.

Parenting class requirement

Both parents are required to complete a parenting education class before the court will enter a final order in any case involving children. The class addresses the impact of the dissolution process on children and strategies for effective co-parenting. Your circuit court will have a list of approved providers.