What Needs to Be Included in a Parenting Plan in an Illinois Divorce?

 Posted on August 09, 2021 in Child Custody

When parents choose to get divorced, they will need to address multiple issues related to child custody. In an uncontested divorce, parents may reach agreements on how these issues should be handled. If an agreement cannot be reached, litigation may be necessary, and a family court judge may make the final decisions on how parental responsibilities and parenting time will be allocated between the parents. Regardless of the approach taken during the divorce process, the parents’ divorce decree will include a parenting plan that details all decisions made about child custody.

Elements of a Parenting Plan

The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act states that a parenting plan must include the following:

• Details about how decision-making responsibilities will be allocated between the parents. Responsibility may be shared equally by parents or solely allocated to one parent, and the areas of responsibility that will be addressed include education-related decisions, health-related decisions, religious decisions, and the choice of children’s extracurricular or recreational activities.

• Details about children’s living arrangements and the parenting time that children will spend with each parent. A schedule must be included specifying when children will live in each parent’s home, or the parenting plan may describe any other formula or method used to determine how parenting time will be allocated.

• Details about how transportation arrangements will be handled for children, including when parents will pick up or drop off children at the beginning or end of their parenting time and transportation for school or extracurricular activities.

• Provisions related to communications between parents and children, including appropriate times and methods of communication with a parent during the other parent’s parenting time.

• Terms that describe each parent’s right to access information about their children, including medical records, school records, or reports and schedules for child care or extracurricular activities.

• Provisions describing how mediation will be used if a parent requests a modification to parenting time or parental responsibilities, as well as decisions about modifications that may be made if certain events occur.

• Identifying information for each parent, including their addresses, phone numbers, and contact information for their employers.

• The address of the children’s primary residential home, which will be used for school registration purposes.

• Requirements for parents to notify each other when changing their primary residence and provisions detailing how issues related to parental relocation will be resolved.

• Requirements that parents notify each other about emergencies, travel plans, or other child-related issues.

• If parents agree to include the right of first refusal, details about when a parent will be required to contact the other parent and offer them the opportunity to care for children, as well as transportation arrangements and other issues involved in these situations.

Contact Our Oakbrook Terrace Parenting Plan Lawyers

At Farooqi & Husain Law Office, we can help you understand how to create a parenting plan that protects your parental rights and ensures that you will be able to provide for your children’s best interests. For skilled and experienced representation during your divorce, contact our DuPage County child custody attorneys at 630-909-9114.

Sources:

https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?ActID=2086&ChapterID=59&SeqStart=8300000&SeqEnd=10000000

https://www.illinoiscourts.gov/Resources/bf2b7369-588e-46ad-a8f2-4f14862c4ab1/Divorce_with_Children_Parenting_Plan%20(1).pdf