Thoughts About 50/50 Parenting Time

A colleague, Illinois Appellate Attorney David Gutzh, has a YouTube site where he discusses current case law. His summary of the Appellate Court’s handling of 50/50 parenting time was excellent. Find him on YouTube at YouTubeChannel. You can also find his summary here, at Summary.

David’s videos provide great entertainment for lawyers and an excellent source of questions for clients. Don’t accept the information in his videos as the final answer; the law may have changed since the video was posted. Your facts may be different and your judge may not be required to follow these cases.

Here are some thoughts about 50/50 parenting time:

Most attorneys who are interested in promoting strong family relationships will cringe at this term. Children are not property to be divided equally, and we don’t even always necessarily divide property 50/50. The best attorneys will determine with the parties the best parenting time that serves the children’s best interests and the schedules of parents and children. The idea of swapping parenting time for support has created an additional obstacle for reaching this goal, but with good parents and good attorneys, the best interests of the children can still be the goal.

Equal parenting time is most likely to occur with parents who:

• live close to each other and to the children’s schools and activities
  
• share the children’s interest in religion and activities
  
• cooperate and agree on significant decisions
  
• communicate exceptionally well without hostility
  
• do not speak negatively about each other
  
• experience good behavior and grades with the children with both parents
  
• have mature children who are comfortable and supportive of the plan
  
• are more focused on parenting than dating
  
• have work schedules that coincide with the parenting time proposed
  
• create a schedule without excessive back and forth for the children
  

For more information, please contact:

Wakeman Law Group, PC

741 S. McHenry Ave., Suite A

Crystal Lake, IL 60014

Ph: 815-893-6800

wakemanlaw.net