Non-Parent Visitation Guidelines Following Divorce

 Posted on June 07, 2016 in Visitation

Once your divorce is finalized, you and your family embark on new journeys and a brand new way of life. When you and your ex-spouse share children, arrangements for visitation (parenting time) and the allocation of parental responsibilities (child custody) are made, resulting in new routines and a lifestyle that you and your children were not previously accustomed to before the divorce. While these new arrangements can take some getting used to, they often result in happier, healthier homes and habits for the whole family.

Non-Parent Involvement

During the divorce process, and often through mediation, you are expected create a parenting plan for how you will continue to raise your children and make decisions for your children based on their best interest. Outside influences must also be taken into consideration, such as grandparents, mentors, and close family friends.

Who will have visitation rights, and what will those rights look like? How will you determine which non-parents will spend time with your children, and how will you negotiate those parameters? Here are some basic visitation guidelines for non-parents according to Illinois law:

• Visitation may include electronic communication under certain conditions, to be determined by the court if necessary. Electronic communication includes phone, email, instant messaging, video conferencing, other wired or wireless technologies via the Internet, and other various communication media;
• Grandparents, great-grandparents, step-parents, and siblings of a minor child are eligible to present a petition for visitation and electronic communication as long as the child is one year old or older;
• A petition for visitation privileges may not be filed by parents or grandparents if parentage legal parentage has not been established between the child and parent;
• The court may grant visitation rights to a non-parent that do not include overnight or possessory visitation; and
• The court will determine visitation for non-parents by into consideration the child’s wishes, their mental and physical health, the quality and nature of the existing relationship between the child and non-parent, the good faith of the person filing the petition, and whether or not the visitation is able to be structured in a way that reduces the child’s exposure to any conflict between parties.

Get the Guidance You Need

These are just a few factors taken into account by the judge and court when addressing a visitation petition that involves adults other than the child’s parents. If you are undergoing a divorce or are a grandparent, relative, or close friend of a child of divorce and have questions regarding your rights, we can help. Contact an experienced Lombard family law attorney at A. Traub & Associates today.

Source:

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