Over the last few months, it may have become increasingly difficult for you and your co-parent to properly follow your court-approved parenting plan. You both want to fulfill your parental responsibilities and ensure that you can spend a fair amount of parenting time with your kids, but you also do not want to put anyone’s health or safety at risk. Conflicts in these areas may be even worse if you and your co-parent have different philosophies regarding the Illinois Stay-at-Home Order. Governor Pritzker deemed from the beginning of the order that it is essential for parents to honor their court-ordered parenting commitments, but under certain circumstances, doing so might not be a good idea. Here are some things to consider while you both adapt to the “new normal” as co-parents during a crisis:

What to Consider When Addressing Co-Parenting Conflicts

Perhaps your co-parent refuses to wear a mask in public as ordered by the governor, or your co-parent has accused you of not keeping your home sanitary enough during these challenging times. Before getting into a heated argument about these issues, you may want to consider some of these main points when addressing each grievance:

• Remain calm. Heated arguments will not do anyone any good. During a crisis such as this, contentious disputes can be even more detrimental than under normal circumstances. It certainly will not help your children if they witness any of that behavior, since they likely already dealing with enough stress.

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While there are many legitimate reasons to postpone or cancel a divorce due to pregnancy, a person may have some compelling reasons to get divorced while pregnant. As difficult as it may be to end your marriage when you are already dealing with the stresses and expectations of impending parenthood, divorce may be the best overall choice for your family. Here is a closer look at the potential benefits of getting a divorce while you or your spouse are pregnant:

Reasons to Divorce While Pregnant

If you are considering a divorce while pregnant and are worried about the consequences, consider these positive aspects of taking such an action:

• Your Child Will Not Have to Live Through the Divorce Itself—If you get a divorce while pregnant, you do not have to worry about the difficulties your child may face when shifting from having two parents in the same home caring for him or her to receiving care from parents in two separate homes. Researchers estimate that it can take children about two years to fully adjust to a divorce, on average. If your child is born into a single-parent home, or if you and the other parent will be sharing parenting time from the beginning of the child’s life, he or she will not need to make this adjustment.

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When married parents get a divorce or unmarried parents are separated, arrangements for child custody will be put in place. A court-approved parenting plan will include decisions regarding parental responsibilities and parenting time. While parenting agreements are meant to protect a parent’s rights as a father or rights as a mother, there are some circumstances where a person’s parental rights may be involuntarily terminated. Illinois has extensive rules and guidelines in place to determine when the termination of parental rights is appropriate.

Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights

Parental rights will only be terminated if it can be proven that a person is unfit as a parent, and remaining in contact with their child or children will not be in the child’s best interests. Some ways a parent might be considered unfit include:

• Child abandonment

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Governor Pritzker has extended the Illinois Stay-at-Home Executive Order through the end of April. This new state government guideline has required many Illinois residents to adjust to a “new normal” in terms of their daily activities. Such a major impact even might affect the terms of your child custody agreements. In some cases, you and your co-parent may agree to make temporary changes to ensure your family’s health and safety during the order, but in other cases, you might need to update your parenting agreement.

4 Ways the Stay-at-Home Order Could Alter Parenting Plans

If you are a divorced or unmarried parent, you might want to revisit your parenting plan in light of the Stay-at-Home Order. While your overall parental responsibilities will likely not be affected, you may need to make adjustments to parenting time schedules, or you might want to include changes that address other issues. Here are some reasons your parenting plan might need to be updated:

1. Sickness—Obviously, if you or the other co-parent are sick with a dangerous contagious disease, self-quarantine might be necessary, but that does not necessarily mean the sick parent cannot see his/her child. The parent who is not sick should make an effort to let the sick parent visit with the child as regularly planned, even if it is through video conferencing or by telephone.

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There are plenty of legal challenges involved in getting a divorce while pregnant. However, those complications are not the only reasons to give careful thought to whether you want to end your marriage. You are likely to face a variety of emotional and psychological concerns, and you will want to weigh your options to determine the best choice for you and your family. Here is a closer look at some of the reasons you may choose to postpone or cancel divorce if you are pregnant:

Reasons Not to Divorce While Pregnant

While there are a wide variety of reasons you may believe that your marriage is beyond repair, it is often best to avoid hasty decisions, especially when you are about to experience a life-changing event upon the birth of your child. Here are some of the more significant and prevalent examples of why you should think long and hard before beginning the divorce process while you are pregnant:

1. Do Not Rush Into Anything—You might be overwhelmed and stressed because of your pregnancy, and perhaps your marital troubles did not begin until after you became pregnant. Pregnancy can alter your perception of things in ways that are much more ephemeral than you might realize. In that sense, you should not make any rash decisions while pregnant, especially if there is even the slightest possibility that you will regret them in the future.

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