If you are a parent who is planning to divorce your spouse, it is likely that one of your biggest concerns is how the divorce will affect your children. The transition from nuclear family to sharing children between two homes can be challenging and no two co-parenting arrangements are the same. Parents who plan to share custody of their children after a divorce will be expected to create a parenting plan or parenting agreement and submit it to the court. A parenting plan is not only required for divorce involving children in Illinois, but is also a great way to make sure parents are on the same page regarding how they will raise children after the divorce is finalized.

Things to Consider When Making a Parenting Plan

Because every family is different, every parenting plan is different. Some divorcing couples feel that they can roughly outline a custody and visitation schedule and plan little else while others go into much more detail about how their children should be raised. If you worry that you and your spouse will have trouble agreeing to parenting decisions in the future, it is best to be very specific in your parenting agreement. Take the time to prevent problems before they arise by making sure you and your soon-to-be-ex-spouse are in agreement about parenting responsibilities.

Members of the United States Armed Forces are well trained to expect the unexpected at all points in their careers. However, sometimes the unexpected can affect not only them, but also their spouses and children. Receiving new orders sometimes happens very abruptly, with a minimum of time to make arrangements before shipping out. If you have custody of your children, you may have to act fast to avoid running into trouble.

Your Right to Speak Is Protected

Some spouses will try to file for a parental responsibilities hearing during a deployment or while you are awaiting orders, thinking that with your life in flux, you will be in no position to challenge their wishes. However, in 1940, Congress passed a law now known as the Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act (SCRA), and SCRA grants an automatic stay of any civil proceedings, usually lasting 90 days, but a judge may extend the stay if they believe that it is in the best interests of the child to do so. The rationale is simple: a soldier, especially a soldier deployed on active duty, is almost never in a position to respond appropriately to such an important document as a custody pleading.

Motions to modify parenting time or parental responsibilities are common, especially if the one parent has experienced a change in their work or living circumstances. However, sometimes a true emergency will happen, and in such a case, an emergency motion may be filed, Relief, however will not always be granted. Alternatively, a motion may be filed as an emergency when it is not one, and it is important to know the difference.

The Process of Filing

The regulations surrounding emergency motions differ from county to county. In Cook County, for example, the requirements are set out in the Rules of Court and are fairly clear, but things may be murkier in other jurisdictions. Emergency motions are generally somewhat different to the standard requests for modification in two major respects: the type of notice required and the requirements as to who must be present. With a “normal” motion, notice must be served on the other party, usually by mail, before a hearing can proceed. Emergency motions require only “emergency” notice (at least in Cook County), which is loosely defined as making at least one reasonable attempt to inform the opposing party of the motion’s filing.

In about two weeks, families throughout the United States will get together to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. As you might expect, traditions often vary from one family to the next, but for most people, the most important part of the holiday season is the opportunity to visit with friends and loved ones—many who have traveled a great distance to be part of the festivities. If you are a divorced parent, however, planning for the holidays can be difficult as you most likely will need to coordinate your plans with those of your child’s other parent.

Rotating Holidays?

Illinois law provides that a parenting plan following a divorce must include a parenting time schedule. Must parenting plans also include provisions that indicate where and how the child will spend certain holidays, depending on which holidays are a priority for which parent. For example, if Thanksgiving is a major holiday among your extended family but not so much for the other parent’s family, your agreement could stipulate that your child is to stay with you each year at Thanksgiving. In other situations, an alternating or split holiday schedules may be more appropriate.

After a divorce, many families decide to start fresh in other locations. However, if both spouses are still in the picture, there are rules governing where the custodial parent may move and the parenting time to which to the other parent is entitled. The state has a strong interest in children being able to see both their parents, and the laws surrounding relocation are designed to reflect this.

Previous Law

Prior to 2016, the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) was fairly straightforward when discussing the matter of familial relocation. It allowed a relocation if it could be shown to be in the best interests of the child, not just those of the parent. Factors like feasibility of visitation for the noncustodial parent, the motives of the custodial parent, and the child’s overall quality of life had to be considered before a relocation was allowed.