Illinois Child Custody Lawyers
Protect Your Relationship
With Your Children
Hire a child custody team with proven systems to help you navigate parenting time, decision-making responsibilities, relocation requests, modifications, and custody disputes. People trust us during some of the most emotional moments of their lives, starting with a free consultation that provides clear solutions in 30 minutes or less.
Illinois Bar Since 2009 | Cook, DuPage, Lake & McHenry | 2026 Super Lawyers
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We Handle Every Type of
Child Custody Situation
Nothing matters more than your relationship with your children. Whether you're establishing parenting time, creating a parenting plan, modifying an existing order, or navigating a high-conflict dispute, we help you understand your options, reduce uncertainty, and pursue solutions focused on your child's best interests.
Illinois courts make decisions based on the best interests of the child. Factors may include each parent's involvement, ability to provide care, willingness to support the child's relationship with the other parent, the child's needs, and the family's overall circumstances.
It depends on the circumstances. Courts generally prefer arrangements that allow both parents to remain involved when appropriate. However, concerns involving abuse, neglect, substance abuse, or significant parental conflict may affect parenting decisions.
Yes. Parenting plans and custody orders can often be modified when there has been a substantial change in circumstances affecting the child or parents. We can evaluate whether a modification may be appropriate in your situation.
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Here's How We Handle
Child Custody Cases
Child custody disputes can feel overwhelming because so much is at stake. Our role is to help you understand the process, protect your parental rights, reduce uncertainty, and create a plan focused on your child's long-term well-being.
The First Conversation
Filing & Initial Disclosures
Reaching Agreement
Going to Court (If Needed)
Final Orders & Future Modifications
We start with a full conversation about your family: the children's ages and schedules, the current parenting arrangement (formal or informal), your co-parenting relationship, and any specific concerns like safety, substance use, or relocation. We review what Illinois law calls the best interests of the child and what factors the court will weigh. By the end of the consultation, you'll know whether your case is likely to settle or be contested, what timeline to expect, and what working with us costs.
If you don't already have a parenting plan in place, we file a Petition for Allocation of Parental Responsibilities. Both parents complete required parenting time disclosure forms and exchange information about their schedules, work, and child-related expenses. In Cook County, the court automatically refers contested cases to mediation under Cir. Ct. R. 13.4 before allowing them to proceed to trial.
Most custody cases resolve through negotiation and mediation. We work with you and the other parent's attorney to draft a parenting plan that specifies parenting time, decision-making, holidays, vacations, transportation, and how disputes will be handled going forward. When the parents agree, the court approves the plan as written. When they don't, we identify the actual disputed issues and try to resolve them before moving toward a hearing.
When parents cannot agree on parenting time or decision-making, the court decides after a contested hearing. Trial preparation involves discovery, parenting evaluations from psychologists or social workers when appropriate, witness testimony from teachers and family members, and often the appointment of a Guardian ad Litem to represent the child's interests. The court enters an Allocation Judgment based on the best interests of the child.
Life changes. Once a parenting plan is entered, circumstances involving jobs, relocation, school changes, or family needs may require modifications. We continue helping families navigate changes after the initial order is entered.
Here's What You Can Count On
Family law cases run long. The right working relationship matters as much as the right legal strategy. These are the standards we hold ourselves to, every day, from your first call through your final order.
Communication Standard
We respond to every client message within one business day, often the same day. When your attorney is in court, the team responds first so you always know we have heard you.
Who Makes The Decisions
We explain your options in plain English, give you our recommendation, and tell you the tradeoffs. We never settle, file a motion, or commit you to anything without your written authorization.
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Billing Transparency
Every invoice is itemized so you see exactly what we did and what it cost. If a strategic choice will add meaningful cost, we tell you before we do the work.
Documentation Rhythm
After every hearing, negotiation, or strategic decision, you get a written summary of what happened, what was decided, and what comes next. You always have a record to re-read when the moment is calmer.
Meet The Team Families Trust
During Difficult Times
We help families navigate divorce, custody, child support, mediation, LGBTQ family law, and complex financial matters. Our approach is direct: clear communication, practical strategy, and a steady hand through every decision.
Olivia practices family law to help others add value to their lives.
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Alex became a lawyer to help clients through life's toughest moments.
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Jessica practices family law to be a steadfast guide through challenging times.
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Lizbeth Reyes-Guzman
Francis McGee
Ellie Zwart
Nia Gray
Maddie Wakley
What People Actually Ask Us About Custody in Illinois
These are the questions we hear most often from parents navigating custody in Illinois, whether you're in the middle of a divorce, never married, or modifying an existing order. If yours is not here, send it over.
Not directly, and not at any specific age. Illinois courts can consider a child's preferences as one factor in the best-interests analysis, but the weight given depends on the child's age, maturity, and the reasons behind the preference. There is no magic age where the child gets to choose; we've seen courts give significant weight to a 13-year-old's reasoned preference and very little to a 16-year-old's impulse-driven one.
A Guardian ad Litem (GAL) is a court-appointed attorney whose role is to represent the child's interests, separate from either parent's interests. The court can appoint a GAL in contested custody cases, particularly when the parents are alleging serious concerns about the other's parenting, such as substance use, abuse, or neglect. The GAL investigates and submits a recommendation to the court. Olivia serves as a Guardian ad Litem in Cook County and brings that perspective to representing parents.
Illinois courts have moved away from rigid presumptions like every other weekend toward parenting time that reflects each parent's pre-divorce involvement and the children's needs. Allocations range from primarily-with-one-parent, with regular time for the other, to 50/50 schedules to schedules built around school and activities. We help you design a schedule that works in practice, not just on paper.
Yes. Unmarried parents establish parenting plans through a parentage case under the Illinois Parentage Act, rather than through a divorce. The legal standards are the same: best interests of the child, allocation of parenting time and decision-making, and child support calculated under the income shares model. We handle parentage cases regularly.
The relocating parent must give 60 days' notice. If the other parent consents, the relocation goes forward. If the other parent objects, the court decides based on the best interests of the child, weighing the reasons for and against the move, the impact on the child's relationship with each parent, and the feasibility of preserving meaningful contact. Relocation cases are heavily fact-specific, and we evaluate them at the first consultation.
Illinois law treats domestic violence as a serious factor in custody decisions. If there's a documented history of abuse or a current Order of Protection in place, the court can restrict parenting time, require supervised visits, or limit decision-making authority for the parent who committed the abuse. We handle custody cases that involve domestic violence concerns regularly, often in coordination with Order of Protection proceedings.
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Trusted During Difficult Times
Real clients on what it's like to have us in their corner.
What To Expect During Your Free Consultation.
Whether you're ready to move forward or just have questions, the first conversation is free, confidential, and on your terms. Tell us what's going on, and we'll outline what comes next.