For many families, it is considered a blessing to have a large number of relatives interested in visiting one another and helping raise children in a loving environment. In other situations, however, the family relationships may be strained, and a person with children may choose to limit his or her child’s interaction with other members of the child’s family. If you have been prevented from seeing or interacting with a child in your own immediate or extended family, it is important to understand how the law applies in such situations.

Stepparent Visitation

Under Illinois law, stepparents have no inherent rights to visitation if the child’s biological parent (at least one) does not consent. However, since 1998, there has been some movement toward changing this. After a series of decisions involving the question of stepparents seeking visitation from parents who were still in the proverbial picture, Illinois courts essentially recognized that stepparents might have standing, or the legal capacity to bring suit over a specific alleged wrong. However, even with standing, most stepparents are not able to obtain visitation without a significant fight.

If you are involved in a parenting time dispute and are the parent of a breastfeeding child, you may have questions about how a breastfeeding relationship may impact a custody arrangement in Illinois. Our family law attorneys in Wheaton understand that breastfeeding is both a sensitive topic and an important part of many young children's development.

The Tender Years Argument

In the past, many jurisdictions have subscribed to the view that very young children who are still in their "tender years" - generally considered to be children age three and younger - should primarily be cared for by their mother.

Illinois is one state that allows grandparents and other close family members to petition the court for visits when the parent or guardian is not permitting access to the child. While grandparent visitation is considered a privilege and not a right in Illinois, your family law attorney can help you seek contact with your grandchildren.

What Is Grandparent Visitation?

Any parent - if deemed a fit parent by the court - is given substantial deference to his or her wishes regarding contact between their child and other family members, including grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles, and even adult siblings. For this reason, many grandparents attempt to set up regular visits with their grandchildren by working with the child's parent.

When you are forced to consider how you will share parenting responsibilities following a divorce or a separation, your initial feelings may be very confusing. It can be quite overwhelming to think about not being with your child all of the time, but you probably realize how important it is for your child to have a strong relationship with the other parent. Finding common ground during a difficult time can be very challenging, but a mutual commitment to finding a cooperative solution can go a long way in providing security and happiness for your child.

Visitation is Now Parenting Time

Recent changes to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act have amended the language used to describe a co-parent’s time with his or her child. For many years, any parent who was not deemed unfit or danger to the child was presumed to have rights of reasonable “visitation.” While the intention of the law may have been reasonable, referring to a parent’s time with his or her child visitation could have the effect of making the parent feel like an outsider or an interloper in the child’s life.

Spending time with your grandchildren is a loving and enjoyable experience. It benefits both the grandparents and the child. Studies have found that spending time with your grandchildren increases brain activity/memory and helps keep disease like Alzheimer's at bay. However, many grandparents lose out on time with their grandchildren when a family suffers a divorce. It can become an emotional battle when vying for visitation rights on behalf of not only a parent, but a grandparent as well.

Unfortunately, in Illinois there is no guarantee of visitation rights for grandparents, also known as grandparents’ rights. In fact, it is not considered a right under state law, but rather a privilege. This is, in part, due to the fact the Illinois Supreme Court twice held the statute granting grandparents’ visitation rights as unconstitutional.

The Effect on Your Family