Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois

Re: vistation rights of a father

This communication and response is not intended as and should not be construed or understood to be legal advice. The response stated below is intended solely as a general discussion and/or forum of legal principles. You should not rely on or take action based on this response without first presenting ALL relevant details and facts to a competent attorney in your jurisdiction and then receiving that attorney's individualized advice for you. By reading the response or reply to your question or comment, you agree that the opinion expressed is not intended to, nor does it, create any attorney-client relationship, nor does it constitute legal advice to any person reviewing such information, nor will it be considered an attorney-client privileged communication. DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DO NOT AGREE.

If the father of the child wanted to obtain visitation rights, he will need to petition the court for that. It's basically a two-step process. The father would have to (1) establish paternity; and then (2) petition the court for visitation. Visitation is not necessarily automatically granted to the presumed father. The father, if not married, will need to establish paternity by either voluntary acknowledgment or by petitioning the court to establish paternity (the court usually does this by court ordered DNA testing). Once the father proves paternity, he can then petition the court for visitation.

The above is basically a nutshell. Hopefully this will help. If you want, please feel free to contact me directly at [email protected].

Good luck.