Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois

We live in a small town in Ogle County IL. My son wants to come live with me and my wife of 11 years. He is 14 and his mother is saying that he does not have a choice. I was told by my divorce attorney years ago that there was no difference between sole and joint custody, so she currently has sole custody and residential custody. Is it possible to file a petition on our own so that he can go into the judge's chambers and tell him where he wants to live? Or do we have to hire a lawyer that so far we have been quoted $3000 as just a down payment. Honestly, his mother is unfit. She agreed to let him try it for the summer and has since renegged after she promised to give back $50 a week in child support just to help feed him over here.. She never paid a cent of it and when I asked her about it, that is when she changed her mind. We also have another daughter who at 14 was in a relationship with an 18 year old boy that my ex allowed to stay the night with her. My daughter also has been in and out of mental institutions due to the face that she is an out of control teenager who has no respect for authority what so ever. This is all stuff that my son is exposed to and is tired of it. Could it be as simple as a self filed petition to help him?


Asked on 7/06/10, 3:41 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stephen Messutta

Navigating the courts is not easy, and prospective litigants are always on best advice to get the help of an attorney (if for nothing else you're buying errors and omissions insurance against a screw-up). You should shop around for an attorney but in the end sole and joint custody are not identical and that being said you don't have the legal knowledge to understand your own divorce decree. So if you want to have the divorce decree modified you'll have to go to court to do it and no if changing custody would affect your ex-wife's rights she would be entitled to notice and an opportunity to be heard. How much is your kids' safety, health and well-being worth to you? A good divorce attorney may be able to get other things adjusted so that there are more favorable tax consequences for you too. Good luck.

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Answered on 7/07/10, 9:08 am


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