Having parental responsibilities means making important decisions for a child, and spending time with them. This used to be called "custody," but that term is no longer used in Illinois.

Illinois courts can give parental responsibilities when they have "home-state jurisdiction." This means that:

• The child has lived in Illinois for the past 6 months, or since birth (if the child is under 6 months old); or
• The child lives in another state, but moved from Illinois within the past 6 months, and one of the parents still lives in Illinois.

If you have just moved from another state, you may not get parental responsibilities except in the following cases:

• No state has home-state jurisdiction, or the state with home-state jurisdiction will not hear the case;
• One of the parents or the child has an important connection to Illinois, and there is a lot of information about the child available in Illinois; or
• In emergencies, to protect the safety of a child.

If you are in the middle of a custody case in another state when you move to Illinois, you will usually need to finish the case in that state.