Niles Illinois Child Custody Lawyer

If you and your spouse are divorcing, where your child will live is a pressing issue. Call our Niles child custody lawyers for help understanding the law and fighting for you and your child’s best interests.

Niles is ranked as one of the best places in the Chicago area for families, as well as a village with some of the best public schools in Cook County. It’s also an area rich with historic landmarks and recreation activities and is regarded as one of the more coveted suburbs of Chicago in which to live.

But if you and your spouse are thinking about divorce, the family-friendliness of Niles is probably the last thing on your mind. Instead, if you have children, how custody will be decided and where your children will live is of the utmost importance. At the law offices of Gordon & Perlut, LLC, our Niles child custody lawyers can help you to understand how custody is determined and what your rights are. Call us today to get started.

Child Custody/Parenting Time and the Law: What You Need to Know

If you and your spouse are separating, one of the most important issues that you will need to resolve together before your divorce can be finalized is that of how the care for your child will be shared. Courts strongly encourage couples to work together to make this determination, forming a parenting plan in collaboration that can be submitted to the court for approval. Parents may choose to share parenting time of the child 50/50, or a variety of parenting schedules that are best for your children. As to decision making, the Court can award joint decision making (what used to be called joint custody), or one parent may have sole decision-making authority for the children (what we used to call sole custody). “Decisions” are about who has the right to make decisions about the child’s interests (education, health care, religious upbringing). In most cases, courts find that having both parents involved in a child’s life is in the best interests of the child.

While you and your spouse will be encouraged to work together to create a parenting plan that you can submit to the court, if an agreement proves impossible, you will need to litigate the case.

The Best Interests of the Child

If your child custody case goes to court, the judge will make a determination about parenting time based on the best interests of the child, a statutory requirement. As found in 750 ILCS 5/602.5(c), the child’s best interests will be determined following a consideration of the preferences of the child, the child’s adjustment to home and community, the mental and physical health of all involved individuals, the ability of the parents to work together in a cooperative manner to make decisions, each parent’s past level of participation related to the child in the past, the needs of the child, the wishes of the parents, and any other relevant factors. If your child custody case goes to trial, our lawyers can provide you with aggressive legal representation designed to advocate for you and your child’s needs.

Call Us Today

To learn more about child custody in Illinois and how our Niles child custody attorneys can help, please call us today to schedule a consultation and discuss your case in person.