When a child’s parents are no longer in a relationship with each other, including when married parents get divorced or when unmarried parents have broken up, both parents will often wish to maintain a close relationship with the child. In many cases, parents will share in the allocation of parental responsibilities (commonly known as legal custody), and each parent will have regular parenting time (sometimes referred to as visitation). However, there may be some situations where one parent believes that it would be best for a child not to have a relationship with the other parent. In these cases, parents will need to understand how the law addresses restrictions on parenting time. When addressing these matters in court, a parent will need to show why their wishes regarding parenting time would be in their child’s best interests.
Parental Rights and Parenting Time Restrictions
It is important to understand that parents have the right to regular, reasonable parenting time with their children. Illinois law states that parents are presumed to be fit, and even if parental responsibilities are solely allocated to one parent, the other parent will most likely be able to maintain regular contact with children and have children spend time in their care. However, a family court judge may decide that restrictions on parenting time are appropriate if there is evidence showing that children’s physical, emotional, or moral health would be at risk when a parent exercises their parenting time rights.
While there are a number of reasons why a judge may determine that it would not be in children’s best interests to have unrestricted parenting time with a parent, the most common reasons for restrictions include: