The legal parent of a child has the right to a relationship with that child. This includes parental responsibilities (custody) like decision-making power and parenting time (visitation).

The parent must also give financial support until the child turns 18 (sometimes 19) and graduates high school. This may include:

• child support payments,
• medical insurance, 
• life insurance,
• day care expenses, and
• extracurricular activities.

A parent may also have to pay for the child to go to college. This is limited to the cost of in-state tuition at the University of Illinois Champaign/Urbana. It includes room and board, a standard meal plan, and transportation costs. This continues until the child gets a bachelor's degree, or turns 23.

[no-lexicon]Mediation[/no-lexicon]

If parentage is established, but the parents cannot agree on issues like child supporter custody, the judge may send them to mediation. Mediation is when someone else (a "third party") tries to get the two people to come to an agreement. If that doesn't work, the judge will decide these issues.

If parentage is not established

If a person is not a child's legal parent, they have no legal right to be involved in the child's life. They also do not have to give financial support for the child.