When married parents get a divorce or unmarried parents are separated, arrangements for child custody will be put in place. A court-approved parenting plan will include decisions regarding parental responsibilities and parenting time. While parenting agreements are meant to protect a parent’s rights as a father or rights as a mother, there are some circumstances where a person’s parental rights may be involuntarily terminated. Illinois has extensive rules and guidelines in place to determine when the termination of parental rights is appropriate.

Involuntary Termination of Parental Rights

Parental rights will only be terminated if it can be proven that a person is unfit as a parent, and remaining in contact with their child or children will not be in the child’s best interests. Some ways a parent might be considered unfit include:

• Child abandonment

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During the divorce process, there is a step that lawyers from both sides will take referred to as “discovery.” This is a critical stage in divorce proceedings. The lawyers and judge alike can learn countless insights during discovery, and these facts will help determine what is fairest and most equitable in the divorce judgment. Here is some advice on what you should do if faced with discovery:

4 Tips for Successful Divorce Discovery

Discovery during a divorce is a pretrial process in which both parties will fully disclose information to each other regarding their income and property. During discovery, the parties are permitted to request information from the other side to bolster and support their case with accurate evidence. These discovery requests may include:

• Requests for Production of Documents, such as financial statements and taxes

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Governor Pritzker has extended the Illinois Stay-at-Home Executive Order through the end of April. This new state government guideline has required many Illinois residents to adjust to a “new normal” in terms of their daily activities. Such a major impact even might affect the terms of your child custody agreements. In some cases, you and your co-parent may agree to make temporary changes to ensure your family’s health and safety during the order, but in other cases, you might need to update your parenting agreement.

4 Ways the Stay-at-Home Order Could Alter Parenting Plans

If you are a divorced or unmarried parent, you might want to revisit your parenting plan in light of the Stay-at-Home Order. While your overall parental responsibilities will likely not be affected, you may need to make adjustments to parenting time schedules, or you might want to include changes that address other issues. Here are some reasons your parenting plan might need to be updated:

1. Sickness—Obviously, if you or the other co-parent are sick with a dangerous contagious disease, self-quarantine might be necessary, but that does not necessarily mean the sick parent cannot see his/her child. The parent who is not sick should make an effort to let the sick parent visit with the child as regularly planned, even if it is through video conferencing or by telephone.

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After your marriage has ended, you will likely be ready to move on and begin again, and this may mean starting a new romantic relationship. However, you may not want to rush into introducing a new partner to your family after your divorce. Depending on your situation, your children might not have an easy time adjusting to this new person being in their lives. Before you make the decision to introduce your new partner to your family, consider the following:

Factors That Determine How Your Children Will React to a New Partner

Before you discuss your new relationship with your kids, you may want to think about the following so that you know what to expect:

1. The Ages of Your Children—Depending on a child’s age, he/she may react differently to a new partner. For instance, young children could connect with a new partner a lot easier than a teenager could, because the teenager might be fully aware of the difficulties that resulted in the divorce in the first place, leading them to harbor resentment and hold a preemptive grudge against the new partner. However, young children may also quickly become attached to the new partner, and if the relationship ends prematurely, they may be heartbroken.

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There are plenty of legal challenges involved in getting a divorce while pregnant. However, those complications are not the only reasons to give careful thought to whether you want to end your marriage. You are likely to face a variety of emotional and psychological concerns, and you will want to weigh your options to determine the best choice for you and your family. Here is a closer look at some of the reasons you may choose to postpone or cancel divorce if you are pregnant:

Reasons Not to Divorce While Pregnant

While there are a wide variety of reasons you may believe that your marriage is beyond repair, it is often best to avoid hasty decisions, especially when you are about to experience a life-changing event upon the birth of your child. Here are some of the more significant and prevalent examples of why you should think long and hard before beginning the divorce process while you are pregnant:

1. Do Not Rush Into Anything—You might be overwhelmed and stressed because of your pregnancy, and perhaps your marital troubles did not begin until after you became pregnant. Pregnancy can alter your perception of things in ways that are much more ephemeral than you might realize. In that sense, you should not make any rash decisions while pregnant, especially if there is even the slightest possibility that you will regret them in the future.

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