Adoption is a great way to help a child and bring them into your family. Whether you are a same-sex couple, a couple who is unable to have children, or an unmarried individual who wants a child, adoption is a viable option. Adoption can prove to be a challenging and time-consuming process because of all of the legal hurdles you face. One element of the adoption process that can be difficult is gaining proper consent so you can finalize the adoption. Gaining consent means the appropriate parties have agreed to give all rights and responsibilities related to the child to the new adoptive parents.

Who is Required to Consent in Adoption?

If the birth mother and biological father still have parental rights and legal custody of the child, both the mother and the father (if paternity has been established) are required to consent to the adoption. If the child is no longer in the legal custody of the parents, then consent can be given by:

Making the decision to get a divorce is rarely easy. Marriages do not just break down overnight. They typically deteriorate over years or even decades. By the time you are at the point of wanting to end your marriage, you want the divorce process to go as quickly as possible. Fortunately, the state of Illinois has created a streamlined way of getting a divorce, though only some couples qualify. This type of divorce process is called a joint simplified dissolution and it can be greatly beneficial for couples who utilize it.

Qualifying Criteria

Before you file for a joint simplified dissolution, you must make sure you meet the criteria set forth in section 452 of Part IV-A of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. You must prove that all of the following conditions exist before you can file for a joint simplified dissolution:

Divorce is stressful, even for the most steadfast of people. When there are children involved in a divorce, things become more complicated. Children tend to process divorce differently than adults because they are still developing mentally and emotionally. If a divorce is not handled properly, children can experience lasting effects, such as depression and low self-esteem. 

Illinois courts take a very child-centered approach to divorce proceedings. They put the children’s best interests first when making child-related decisions. But what actually are the child’s best interests?

Divorcing when you and your spouse have children can be much more difficult than if you did not have children. In addition to worrying about your own feelings about the divorce and your well-being, you also have to worry about how the divorce will affect your children. In addition, there are a few more issues you will have to tackle before you can finalize your divorce, such as your children’s living arrangements, your parenting time schedules, and child support. In Illinois, courts can order one or both parents to provide financial support for a child until the child reaches the age of 18 or they graduate high school, whichever comes later. There is quite a bit that goes into the calculation of child support, so it is important to understand how these obligations are determined.

Determining the Basic Child Support Obligation

The state of Illinois calculates child support using an “income shares” model. This means that the amount of support each parent owes the child is based on his or her income and the percentage of the total household income he or she provides. First, a Gross to Net Income Conversion Table provided by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family services is used to determine each spouse’s net income. Next, those values will be added together to find the combined net monthly household income.

An Income Shares Schedule will then be used to determine the basic support obligation amount based on the parents’ combined net income and the number of children. The amount of this obligation will be split between the two parents, depending on each parent’s contribution to the monthly household income. Typically, the non-custodial parent will pay their portion of the obligation to the custodial parent, and it will be presumed that the custodial parent will be directly using their portion of the obligation to provide for their children’s needs.

The only time the legal father of a child is presumed in Illinois is when the mother is married when the child is born or within 300 days before the child is born. In these cases, the man the mother was married to is presumed to be the legal father of the child. If the mother was unmarried at the time the child was born or within 300 days before the child was born, then it is her responsibility to establish the paternity of the child. Paternity can be established through a couple of different ways, but it is essential that it is done, especially if the mother is attempting to seek child support from the child’s father. Paternity cases can be confusing, which is why getting legal help is advised in these situations.

Ways of Establishing Paternity

If your child’s paternity is not automatically presumed, then you must go about establishing your child’s paternity through alternate means. There are two other ways you can determine your child’s paternity: through the use of a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity form or by actions taken by a state child support agency or a judge. The easiest way to establish your child’s paternity is to fill out and sign the Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity form while you are at the hospital and have your child’s father do the same.

If your child’s father is unwilling to sign the Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity form, you may have to enlist the help of the courts or Illinois Child Support Services. Either of these processes will require you, your child, and the alleged father to submit to genetic testing before an Order of Paternity can be established.