In the state of Illinois, custody and visitation are now known as the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time. Regardless of the language, the need for a comprehensive parenting plan remains the same. A parenting plan provides guidelines for each parent’s time with the child after the divorce.
Unfortunately, many parents—and even courts—take a “one size fits all” approach to a parenting plan without considering the child’s age and changing needs. The psychological and emotional developmental stages vastly differ between a two-year-old and a teenager, not to mention the significant differences in time available to spend with each parent.
While babies and toddlers may require frequent parental daytime visits and a consistent schedule, older children require more flexibility in the parenting plan to adapt to school demands and extracurricular activities. If you are going through a divorce and could use some experienced legal assistance with your parenting plan, a Cook County, IL family law attorney can help.