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Guide to Illinois Child Custody Topics

Where to begin:

IL parental responsibilities & parenting time overview
Answers to your Illinois parental responsibilities questions. How much will my case cost? How long will it take? Do I need a lawyer? What is parenting time vs. parental responsibilities?

Illinois parenting plan and agreement guidelines
Rules and tips for making an Illinois parenting plan or custody agreement. Follow these guidelines for a plan you can show a judge or use to settle.

Illinois parenting time schedule guidelines
Save time and ensure your parenting time calendar meets Illinois requirements by using these guidelines. See popular schedules for different divisions of time with your child.

Illinois child support calculator
Instantly determine your child support by entering your incomes, parenting time and number of children. See how different parenting times affect the total.

Going to court:

Court process: 9 steps to parental responsibilities in IL
The child custody court process from start to finish, with all the resources you need along the way. How to file for parenting responsibilities and parenting time, prepare for court and more in Illinois.

Filing for parental responsibilities in Illinois: 4 steps
Follow these four steps while filing to avoid mistakes that could stall your Illinois custody, separation or divorce case. Find the forms you'll need, learn how to serve the other parent, and more.

Illinois child custody evaluations
Illinois custody evaluations can play a big role in a judge's ruling. Make sure you know why they're ordered, how they work and what's expected of parents.

Parental responsibility trials in IL: Go in prepared
Illinois custody trials are complicated, with witnesses, exhibits, rebuttal evidence and more. Understand the processes and protocols so you get what's best for your child.

Staying out of court:

Alternative ways to decide custody in Illinois
These methods for deciding child custody outside of a courtroom are becoming more common in Illinois. Could one work for you?

Settling parental responsibilities in Illinois: 5 steps
Settling is considered the best way to decide custody. Follow these steps to do it quickly, with no hiccups. Free templates and forms.

More about Illinois custody:

5 people to know in IL parental responsibilities cases
Do you know the difference between a child's representative and an attorney for the child? Do you know what parenting coordinators and custody evaluators do? You may need to for your parental responsibilities and parenting time case.

Types of orders in Illinois custody cases
Emergency orders, temporary orders, final orders: learn the differences between the three and which may apply in your situation.

Special situations in IL parental responsibilities cases
No two Illinois parental responsibilities cases are the same. Do you need an interpreter? Supervised parenting time? What other considerations are you forgetting?

6 ways to use the Custody X Change app in Illinois
Custody X Change can make your Illinois custody case shorter and simpler, with better outcomes. Use it to keep track of evidence for trial, negotiate, settle and more.

Illinois parental responsibilities resources and support
Need more information? Direct links to court websites, child support agencies, our Illinois legal sources and beyond.

Explore examples of common schedules

Explore common schedules

Join the 60,000+ other parents who have used our co-parenting tools

Organize your evidence

Track your expenses, journal what happens, and record actual time. Print organized, professional documents.

Co-parent civilly

Our parent-to-parent messaging system, which detects hostile language, lets you collaborate without the drama.

Get an accurate child support order

Child support is based on parenting time or overnights in most jurisdictions. Calculate time instead of estimating.

Succeed by negotiating

Explore options together with visual calendars and detailed parenting plans. Present alternatives and reach agreement.

Never forget an exchange or activity

Get push notifications and email reminders, sync with other calendar apps and share with the other parent.

Save up to $50,000 by avoiding court

Write your parenting agreement without lawyers. Our templates walk you through each step.

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