Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois

Re: Visitation rights with my daughter

The answer is almost surely to file in Cook. Has there been anything in court before? First big question, are you the LEGAL father? Either through court order or Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity? That's the first step. If you are legal father then you should be right for Petition to Set Visitation.

Re: Visitation rights with my daughter

You would file in Cook, since that is where she is. I assume you are the father (you signed a Voluntary acknowledgment of Paternity). This process is not particularely difficult, you need to have a Petition for Establishment of Parental Rights filed and go to court. Once the judge issues an order for the mother to allow visitation along a set schedule, all aprteis will have to comply or face sanctions or worse from the court. That is the right way to handle this.

This type of petitions will cause the other party to fight it, since she does not want you to see the child. So to insure the best outcome you should consider hiring an attorney. If you would like to discuss this matter further, feel free to contact my office. Good luck.