One of the biggest concerns couples with children bring to divorce is how to address custody and parenting time issues so that the children’s needs are addressed and the divorce has as little negative impact as possible. Cooperation between both parents is essential for this, regardless of what parenting time arrangement is ultimately approved.
Cooperation is, of course, not something every divorcing couple has in spades, and custody cases may be handled differently when parents are unable to cooperate. Under Illinois law, one of the factors judges take into consideration when determining whether to approve a parenting time arrangement is the ability of the parents to cooperate in making shared decisions regarding their children.
Another factor judges consider when it comes to proposed parenting time arrangements is the ability of the parents to cooperate with a proposed arrangement. In some cases, there may be practicalities, such as distance and scheduling conflicts, which make it difficult for parents to easily manage. One party may feel the other should have to do most of the driving or be more accommodating in terms of scheduling. In this way, lack of cooperation can be at least partially addressed before custody and parenting time arrangements are established.
When a divorce is particularly contentious, the court may have to intervene frequently and may also have to address issues that come up after divorce proceedings are completed. In our next post, we’ll look at one such issue and how an experienced family law attorney can help address it.