Parental Rights Attorneys Serving Huntley & McHenry County Families

When parental responsibility is at stake, the decisions made in court shape a child’s daily life for years. At Brody Brandner, Ltd., we’ve worked with northern Illinois families on these matters since 1998, appearing in the 22nd Judicial Circuit for McHenry County and serving clients across McHenry, Kane, and Lake Counties. Our attorneys bring backgrounds as certified accountants to every case, which matters when parenting arrangements intersect with child support calculations, asset division, or long-term financial planning.

We tailor our approach to what each situation actually calls for. When aggressive advocacy advances a client’s goals, we pursue it. When a more measured, collaborative approach may better serve those goals, we take that path instead. Free consultations are available for parents in Huntley and throughout McHenry County who want to understand their options.

Ready to discuss your parental responsibility case? Call Brody Brandner, Ltd. at (815) 374-7783 to schedule your free consultation.

What Allocation of Parental Responsibility Means in Illinois

Illinois replaced the terms “custody” and “visitation” in 2016 under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. The current framework uses allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time, which together define how parents share raising their child after separation or divorce.

The allocation framework has two distinct components:

• Significant decision-making authority: Which parent makes major decisions for the child in four required areas: education, health, religion, and extracurricular activities. Authority can be awarded jointly, granted solely to one parent, or split issue by issue.
• Parenting time: The schedule defining when each parent is with the child, including school nights, weekends, holidays, and school breaks.

Illinois law does not favor either parent based on gender. Every allocation decision is guided by the best interests of the child, evaluated against specific statutory factors the court weighs for each individual case.

Why Huntley Parents Work With Brody Brandner, Ltd.

Parental responsibility cases are rarely straightforward. Child support, property division, and parenting arrangements often come up together, and the financial dimensions of a parenting plan can be just as consequential as the legal ones. Our attorneys’ backgrounds as certified accountants give us a practical foundation for analyzing these intersections, including how support calculations are structured and how financial decisions made now affect long-term considerations for both parents and children.

We stay current on Illinois family law and local 22nd Judicial Circuit practice through ongoing education and current legal research tools. That preparation shapes how we approach each case from the first consultation through resolution. Clients receive dedicated, personalized representation throughout the process, not hand-offs or generic advice.

The Parenting Plan Process in Illinois

Under 750 ILCS 5/602.10, Illinois requires parents to file a proposed parenting plan within 120 days after service of any petition for allocation of parental responsibilities. A parenting plan is a written agreement that addresses significant decision-making responsibilities, parenting time, or both.

When parents agree, they submit a joint parenting plan for court approval. When they can’t agree, each parent files a separate plan and a judge decides what arrangement serves the child’s best interests. Courts have several tools available when disputes run deep:

• Mediation: The court may refer parents to a neutral mediator to work toward agreement outside the courtroom.
• Guardian ad litem: The court may appoint a guardian ad litem or child’s representative to interview the parties and children and present the child’s perspective to the judge. Children typically don’t testify directly.
• Parenting Coordinator: The 22nd Judicial Circuit has adopted Local Rule 11.14, establishing a Parenting Coordinator program specifically for high-conflict cases in McHenry County.

Once a decision-making order is in place, modifications generally cannot be requested for two years unless there is reason to believe the child’s present environment may seriously endanger their health or development. Parenting time is treated differently; it may be modified at any time upon a showing of changed circumstances that serves the child’s best interests.

Factors Illinois Courts Consider

Courts don’t apply a mechanical formula when allocating parental responsibilities. They weigh a range of factors and give more weight to those most relevant to the specific family. Key considerations include:

• The wishes of each parent and the child, with the child’s preferences weighted by their maturity and ability to form independent views
• Each parent’s past participation in significant decision-making for the child
• The child’s adjustment to home, school, and community
• The mental and physical health of everyone involved
• Each parent’s ability and willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent
• Any history of abuse, domestic violence, or whether a parent is a sex offender
• Distance between residences, transportation logistics, and each parent’s and child’s daily schedules
• Any military family care plan if a parent is being deployed

Illinois law presumes both parents are fit, and parenting time is to be without restrictions unless the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that a parent’s exercise of parenting time would seriously endanger the child’s physical, mental, moral, or emotional health. The court selects which factors are most relevant to each case rather than treating all factors equally.

Start With a Free Consultation in Huntley

Parental responsibility decisions carry real consequences for your child and your family. Brody Brandner, Ltd. has been helping McHenry County parents work through these matters since 1998, and we bring both legal knowledge and financial perspective to every case we handle.

We offer free consultations for parents in Huntley and across McHenry, Kane, and Lake Counties. Call us at (815) 374-7783 to get started.