Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois

Hello. Once the father is released from prison he can file a petition for custody. Based upon your question I am unable to determine whether the father and mother are married. However, if they are married, the father should file a petition for legal separation and seek custody of the children, assuming he wishes to remain married to the mother. Otherwise, he can file a petition for dissolution of marriage and seek custody of the children. If the father and mother are not married, the father should file a complaint to determine the existence of a father and child relationship for each child. The court system will not accept one petition for all of the children. For each child there must be one complaint. The father can then seek custody in each of the parentage proceedings. Formerly this type of case was referred to as a paternity case. Now that a man can also file this type of case, the proper term is parentage case. Will be happy to discuss this matter further and in more detail. There is legal presumption that a man is a father of children only when the father and mother are married.