Around 16 percent of same-sex couples who live in the same household are raising children together, according to The Williams Institute. In addition, adoption by same-sex couples has nearly doubled since the early 2000s. Many of these couples face difficult circumstances when their relationships fall apart or their marriages end in divorce. In these cases, child custody disputes can be complicated, highly emotional events that often leave one or both parties unhappy when the final decision is made by a judge. These situations can particularly complex when one parent is the biological parent of the child and the other is not.

When the Child Is Adopted, and Both Spouses Are Legal Parents

When a same-sex couple adopts a child together, and each spouse is a legal parent, decisions about child custody will be resolved in the same manner as if both parents were biological parents. If the couple cannot come to an agreement out of court, a judge will make a decision in favor of the child’s best interests. Deciding factors include the parenting abilities of each party, the emotional bond that each parent has with the child, the child’s preference if they are old enough, the financial ability of each parent to provide for the child, the work schedule and career demands of each parent, and much more.

What if Only One Spouse Is a Legal Parent?

In some same-sex relationships, only one spouse or partner may be the legal parent for a variety of reasons. In these cases, it can be difficult for the other parent to receive any custody or visitation rights. A spouse who is not a child’s legal parent may need to prove their relationship with the child and demonstrate their intent to raise the child to the court.

Child custody, or the allocation of parental responsibilities, as it is now known in Illinois courts, is a difficult subject in a high-conflict divorce. In these cases, the court must often step in and make a decision for the parents on behalf of the child’s best interests.

Spousal abuse, infidelity, and addiction are frequent catalysts for this type of conflict. Substance abuse causes many divorces. In some cases, one parent may attempt to use the other’s drug or alcohol use against them to limit their chances of receiving custody or visitation.

A recent study found that when one spouse is a heavy drinker and the other is not, divorce is much more likely to occur. Couples who participated in the study had a divorce rate of 30 percent when both were not heavy drinkers or both were heavy drinkers. However, when only one was a heavy drinker — having six or more drinks at one time — the divorce rate increased to 50 percent. Alcoholics may also be more likely to engage in domestic abuse, as two-thirds of spousal abuse victims report that the perpetrator was drinking at the time of the attack.

The more complex a divorce is, the more likely there will be experts utilized to provide information to the case. These professionals are often called in by one side to help sway the court’s decisions on various elements. Attorneys can rely on an expert to help prove their client’s parenting skills, disprove the other’s parenting abilities, reveal hidden bank accounts, or prove through bank statements that the other spouse was spending marital money on an affair. Below we outline a few different types of family law experts that could play a role in your own divorce case.

Child Psychologist or Child Expert

A child expert is a psychologist who meets with parents, children, and other family members and relevant parties in order to make recommendations on a parenting plan and custody.

Forensic Accountant

Much of divorce is about asset division, alimony, and child support. A forensic accountant may be called in to assess tax issues, provide insight into a spouse’s standard of living, place value on a business, or provide information about credit card statements or cash-flow.

While child support may have been originally decided years ago with your divorce, that does not mean the court order will remain unchanged. Even after a child reaches the age of 18, the parent who pays child support sometimes still has obligations, particularly if they have the financial means to pay for college, and the other parent does not have the ability to do so.

How Does the Court Make a Decision?

Not all children end up going to college, and not all children of divorce go, either. If a child’s parents do not have the ability to pay, they will either have to come up with the money themselves, take out loans, or simply not attend. However, if their parents do have the means to pay, and the child has proven academic success, the court may decide to create an order of support for college expenses that the non-custodial parent is responsible for. To make this decision, the court will consider the following:

• Finances of each parent;
• Finances of the child, such as scholarships or financial aid;
• Child’s academic achievements; and
• Standard of living the child has become accustomed to.

As such, if the child was not planning on attending college, their grades are not good enough to get in, or the custodial parent has substantially more financial resources to pay for college, the court will likely not require you, the non-custodial parent, to pay, or will only require you to pay a small portion.

Temporary custody is usually decided during divorce, as the child’s parents are likely to split up before the marriage is dissolved, and is subject to change when the divorce is finalized. After all, divorce typically takes many months, as assets and debts need to be accounted for, child support and spousal support are debated, and division of property is negotiated.

However, in some cases not associated with divorce, a parent (or parents) may wish to willfully give temporary guardianship to another party. For example, a mother with full legal custody may wish to grant the child’s father guardianship if she knows she will be leaving the country for an extended multi-month work trip, during which she will be unable to take care of her child. A guardianship attorney can help make this possible.

Who Can Be Given Custody?

According to 755 ILCS 5/Probate Act of 1975, temporary guardianship may be awarded to a relative or family friend when the parent of a child temporarily cannot provide care. A parent can decide who they want to have as the temporary guardian of their child as long as that person is at least 18 years of age, not a felon, a U.S. citizen, not legally disabled, and of legally sound mind. Typically, a parent will choose: