Parents who are preparing for divorce tend to worry quite a bit about parenting matters. Most people have heard tragic stories about parents who lose their relationships with their children because of unfavorable court determinations related to parental rights and responsibilities.
Illinois either permits parents to settle their own parenting arrangements or to litigate and have a judge decide what is best for the children. Judges settling disagreements about the distribution of parental rights and responsibilities usually try to focus on what they think is in the best interests of the children. They look at numerous factors, including the current relationships the parents have with the children and household schedules.
Are parents with demanding careers at risk of losing their parental rights in litigated custody cases?
Even busy professionals can secure parenting time
Maybe one parent in the family is a medical professional. They might work 12-hour shifts and have to be on call occasionally on weekends and holidays. Perhaps they are a sales professional or executive. They might regularly travel out of state for their work.
Such work arrangements can certainly make an even division of parental rights and responsibilities more difficult, but they don’t prevent a parent from being present for their children. Parents and judges are able to establish parenting arrangements that take the career demands of parents into consideration.
In fact, they may even be able to arrange for a 50/50 division of parenting time in many cases. Allowing for more creative parenting schedules and working a degree of flexibility into the division of parenting time can allow busy professionals to maintain a consistent, positive presence in the lives of their children.
Even the busiest parent can also request a share of decision-making authority, which allows them to have a say in the religious observances, education and medical choices for their children. Successful professionals can absolutely obtain an appropriate allocation of parental rights and responsibilities.
Learning more about how the Illinois family courts handle challenging family law matters can help parents prepare for parenting negotiations or litigation by establishing an effective strategy to use in court. Knowledge can empower parents to seek the best possible outcome in a complex family law situation.
