This situation is extremely common for Chicago’s firemen, police, and hospital workers. Typically, some kind of letter is required from your employer outlining the conditions of your employment including the scheduling arrangement. If your schedule is truly in constant flux, most parenting agreements include a notice provision to accommodate parenting time for the parent with…
Before 2016, the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution Act allowed a court to grant a custodial parent permission to remove a minor child from Illinois when it is in the child’s best interests. The parent seeking the removal had the burden of proving by a preponderance of evidence that the removal would be in the child’s…
When changing anyone’s name in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois you must proceed under statute 735 ILCS 5/21-101 which requires that the person whose name is being changed be an Illinois resident for at least 6 months. You may change your name, your spouse’s name and your children’s name all together, if you so desire, under…
If there is no previous Cook County court order you can file a Motion To Enter an Allocation of Parenting Responsibilities and Parenting Time. The court will consider what parenting time (formerly called visitation) you should be awarded based on the best interests of the child. In the case of modifying an existing order, I…
For years, Illinois statutes referred to decision making for the children of separated parents as “custody” and the time spent with the children by the non-primary parent as “visitation”. As of January 1, 2016, the Illinois state legislature changed all the terminology presumably so that parents would no longer feel unequal with emotionally charged terms…
