To ask the court for parental responsibilities, you must file a petition for one of the following:

• Divorce 
• Legal separation
• Parentage 
• Order of protection 
• Parental responsibilities

If you are starting a new case, you will also need to fill out the following forms in addition to your petition:

• 30 Day Summons
• Affidavit of Military Service
• Application for Waiver of Court Fees (needed only if you cannot afford the court fees)

If you are filing into an existing case, you will need to fill out the following forms in addition to your petition:

• Notice of Filing
• Application for Waiver of Court Fees (needed only if you cannot afford the court fees)

Fill out and sign or e-sign your forms. Make four copies of each form. Your circuit court may have pre-printed forms you can use.

Your Petition for Allocation of Parental Responsibilities must say:

• Your name,
• Other parent's name,
• Child's name,
• Child's birthdate,
• How parentage was established (or ask the court to determine parentage); and
• A statement that you are asking the court to give you parental responsibilities, including parenting time and decision-making power.

You must also provide an affidavit with information about where the child has lived for the past five years and any other past or current parental responsibilities or custody cases involving the child.

If you are filing a dissolution case, submit your petition in the county where the other parent lives too. If there is already a case, such as dissolution or a parentage case, involving the child, you will usually have to ask for parental responsibilities in that case. If the child does not live in the county where you file your petition, the court may transfer the case to the county where the child lives.

When you file your petition, a Case Management Conference (CMC) may be scheduled. The date must be no later than 90 days from when the other parent is served.

If a CMC is not scheduled, you will have to set a hearing date. You will need to prepare and file a Notice of Hearing. 

Now that you have filled out your court forms, file your documents online via e-filing, or in person, if you qualify for an exemption from the Illinois e-filing mandate. If you do not have access to a computer or a scanner, you can use a public terminal to e-file your forms at the courthouse. See E-Filing Basics for more information.

After filing, you must let the other parent know that you are asking for parental responsibilities. To do this, you must have them served with the petition to the other parent along with a summons. You must attach your petition to the summons.

There is usually a cost to having a summons served. The cost depends on how the summons is served to the other party.

If you do not give the other party a summons telling them about your lawsuit within the required time, the lawsuit may be dismissed.

There are two types of summons you can use:

• A 30-day Summons is used if you are asking for parental responsibilities as part of a divorce case. The other parent must answer within 30 days; and
• A summons requiring an appearance on a specific date is used when parentage needs to be proved and must state whether you want child support. The other parent must answer this type of summons by going to court or by filing an appearance and answer by a specific deadline. You must ask the court to give you a return date when the other parent must come to court.

Prepare the correct summons and give it to the sheriff in the county where the other parent lives or works to provide to the other parent. You must pay the sheriff to serve your summons unless you have been granted a fee waiver. The sheriff may also need a copy of your Order Granting Fee Waiver.

Every time you file a document with the court, a stamped copy of the document must be mailed to the other parent. You must also fill out and file a Proof of Service each time.

Learn more about how to serve a summons.

The sheriff will fill out the Proof of Service section of the summons. They will either file it with the court or return it to you.

If they are going to file it with the court, call the circuit clerk before your court date to make sure the summons was returned. Ask the clerk how to get a copy of the Proof of Service.

If the sheriff returns the summons to you, file it with the circuit clerk. Keep a copy for your records.

If the other parent was not served, you must try to serve them again with an alias summons. An alias summons is a second summons. You can serve an alias summons just like a normal summons.

You cannot move forward with their case until the defendant is served.

You can ask the court to enter a default judgment if:

• More than 30 days have passed from serving a 30-day summons (the summons begins on day 1 and ends on day 31 or on the date of the return summons), and
• The other parent has not filed an answer or fails to show up to file an answer by the deadline on a return date summons.  

You do this by filing a motion.

You should file your parenting plan as soon as possible, but no later than 120 days after filing your petition. Send the other parent a copy too.

If you and the other parent agree, you can prepare and submit a joint parenting plan. The judge will probably approve your plan.

If you and the other parent do not agree or if the other parent does not file a Parenting Plan, the judge will take your Parenting Plan into consideration when deciding allocation of parental responsibilities.

You will also have to take the court-approved parenting class either before or after your first court date. There is usually a fee for the class, but you might be able to avoid the fee by presenting your Order Granting Fee Waiver. Be sure to get a Certificate of Completion after the class and keep it in your records.

Your first court date may be the Case Management Conference. This happens within 90 days of the day the other parent is served. At the Case Management Conference (CMC), you and the other parent will discuss the case with the judge.

If you already took the parenting class, bring a copy of your Certificate of Completion. If you already filed your Parenting Plan, bring at least two copies.

Below are some common possible outcomes of your first court date:

The other parent comes to court and agrees with you

If all goes well, you will testify briefly and the judge may grant your request. Give the judge proof that you took the parenting class. The other parent may also need to show they took the class. The judge will sign your Allocation of Parental Responsibilities Order. Keep one copy of the signed order for your records and give one to the other parent.

The other parent does not come to court and has not filed a [no-lexicon]response[/no-lexicon]

You can ask the judge to find the other parent in "default." You may be required to schedule another court date to enter your order. You will need to fill out and send the other parent a Notice of Hearing. If the other parent does not come to court on the next court date, the judge may ask you questions under oath and grant your request. Give the judge proof that you took the parenting class. The judge will sign your Allocation of Parental Responsibilities Order. Keep one copy of the signed order for your records and mail a copy to the other parent. Fill out and file a Proof of Service.

You go to court and something still needs to be done in your case

Maybe you have not taken the parenting class yet, or the other parent was not served properly. The judge will tell you what you need to do and when to come back to court.

The other parent comes to court and does not agree with what you want

You now have a contested case. The judge will probably order you and the other parent to go to mediation. There is a fee for mediation, but you may be able to get your fee waived if you got your court fees waived. The judge will give you another court date. If you and the other parent do not reach an agreement in mediation, the judge will probably talk to you at the next court date about having a trial. A contested trial can get complicated, and you may want to get a lawyer.

Within 60 days of the CMC, you and the other parent will be ordered to take a parenting class. The parenting class is at least 4 hours long. You may be able to take it online. Contact the clerk to learn more. Be sure to save the certificate of completion after you take the class.

The court might also order that you and the other parent go to mediation. A mediator is a trained person who will meet with you and the other parent will listen to both sides and will try to help you reach an agreement. 

Usually, the parents split the cost of mediation. If you cannot afford to pay, you can ask the court to order the other parent to pay the entire cost of mediation or to order the county to pay. Some counties have a free mediation program for parents who cannot afford mediation.

If you and the other parent reach an agreement in mediation, you will prepare an agreed parenting plan to give to the judge at your next court date.

If you do not reach an agreement in mediation, you will report this to the judge, and the judge will probably set a date for trial. At the trial, both sides will give their evidence, and then the judge will decide how to give parental responsibilities based on the best interests of the child. The judge will decide how the parents will make decisions for the child, and when the child will live with each parent. If child support has not already been set, the court will probably also order the parent with less parenting time to pay child support. 

If you and the other parent cannot agree about parental responsibilities after the parenting class or mediation, the judge will set a trial or hearing date. You will need to let the other parent know the hearing date by mail if he or she is not in court when the date is set.

You should look at your petition and write down any important things you want to bring up to the judge. Dress nicely, like you would for a job interview. Bring a copy of the certificate of completion of the parenting class, and two copies of the parenting plan. Lastly, bring a blank Allocation of Parental Responsibilities Order.

At the hearing, the judge will decide who gets parental responsibilities. The court gives parental responsibilities based on the best interests of the child. The court will also look at the parenting plans and many different things when deciding the best interests. For both decision-making authority and parenting time, the court will consider the following:

• What the parents want
• What the child wants, if the child is old enough and mature enough
• The child's relationship with the parents, siblings, or other people
• How the child adjusts at home, school, and in the community
• The mental and physical health of all parties
• Any past and ongoing acts of violence by a parent against the other parent or a child
• Whether one of the parents is a sex offender
• For parents who are in the military, the terms of a parent’s military family care plan
• Whether the parent is willing to work to make sure the other parent plays a part in the child's life

Note that, even if the other parent does something you think is bad, it doesn't impact parental responsibilities unless it affects their relationship with the child.

In giving parental responsibilities, the court also looks at who has made decisions for the child in the past, as well as the ability of the parents to cooperate in making decisions.

When deciding how much parenting to give, the court will also look at how much time each parent has spent taking care of the child (such as feeding the child, helping with homework, taking the child to doctor appointments, etc.).

At the trial, both parents will show evidence about who has been making decisions and taking care of the child. After the hearing, the judge will make the final decision. Courts don't like to move children from a home they are used to or from the care of the parent who has provided most of the of care, especially if the child appears to be fine. Judges also do not like to split up siblings. A parent's drug or alcohol addiction can also be an important factor.

Finally, courts feel that children do best if both parents are involved in the child's life as much as possible.

Modifying a parental responsibilities order

After the court makes its final decision, decision-making power usually can't be changed for 2 years, unless the child is in danger or both parents agree to the change. You can ask the court to change parenting time at any time if circumstances change for you or the other parent.

A judge can also order more classes or counseling than the parenting class mentioned above. This includes:

• Individual counseling for the child,
• Family counseling for one or more of the parents and the child, or
• Parental education for one or more of the parents.

The judge can only do this if one of the following things is true:

• Both parents agree to it;
• The child's physical health is endangered;
• The child's emotional development is impaired;
• One or both of the parents has abused their parenting time; or
• One or both parents have abused the parental responsibilities order.