When the court determines appropriate parenting time and parenting responsibility arrangements for divorcing couples, it considers multiple factors. These factors are outlined in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Examples of these factors include the child's personal needs, each parent's income and assets, the other individuals present in each parent's household, and the quality of the child's relationship with each parent.
As you can see, one of these factors is not like the others. The court can quantify each parent's annual income and expenses and determine the child's personal needs in concrete terms, but qualifying the child's relationship with each of his or her parents is much more difficult. What makes a quality relationship? How can the court find one relationship to be stronger than another, when every relationship that exists is unique?
Attachment and Bonding