Visitation

An issue that often arises during or after a divorce or parentage case is the relocation of the children. The parents have separated, and each has their own home and parenting time with the kids. Then, the parent with whom the children reside most of the time (the residential parent) decides that he or she would like to relocate with the kids. Is it permissible? What duties are owed to the other parent? What if the other parent objects?

The law used to distinguish between relocating the children within Illinois and moving out of state. Those distinctions have been eliminated. The term “relocation” is now defined in Section 600 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act as:

A change in residence from the child’s current primary residence located in the county of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, or Will to a new residence within this State that is more than 25 miles from the child’s current residence;

A change of residence from the child’s current primary residence located in a county not listed in paragraph (1) to a new residence within this State that is more than 50 miles from his or her current residence.

A change of residence from the child’s current primary residence to a residence outside the borders of the State that is more than 25 miles from the current primary residence.

Until January 1, 2016, Illinois law addressed disputes regarding child-related issues in divorce and parentage cases in terms of “custody” and “visitation.” The term “custody” referred to both decision-making authority regarding the children (called legal custody), and where the children lived the majority of the time (called residential custody). The term “visitation” referred to the time the parent who did not have residential custody had with the children.

If parents were required to consult with one another before making decisions regarding a child’s education, religious upbringing, extracurricular activities, and healthcare, they were said to have “joint legal custody.” If, however, one parent had decision-making authority over these areas, he or she was said to have “sole custody.”

If the children resided with one parent a majority of the time, that parent was said to have “residential custody” of the children. The other “non-custodial” parent had “visitation” rights. However, if the parents had reached an arrangement wherein both had time with the children exactly 50% of the time, then the parents were said to have “split custody” or “shared custody.”

As of January 1, 2016, that terminology has changed. Illinois no longer recognizes the terms custody or visitation whatsoever when referring to a parent’s rights. Those legal concepts no longer exist, though the term “visitation” does survive in the context of third-parties, such as with regard to “grandparent visitation.” Having said that, those words have been commonly used for so long that many people, attorneys and judges among them, will have a hard time eliminating those words from their vocabulary.

Articles Posted in Visitation

Illinois’ New Rules for Relocating Children In Divorce and Parentage Cases

The New Illinois Family Law Vocabulary: What Ever Happened to the Words “Custody” and “Visitation?”