Disagreements between Coparents

 Posted on September 21, 2016 in Child Custody

As divorced parents, it is your job to cooperate and work together for your child's benefit. But what if you and your spouse disagree on the course of action that would best benefit your child? For example, if your child suffers from a mental or physical health problem, you might want to research alternative treatment options or a specific type of therapy, while your former spouse wants to stick to traditional treatment methods. Watching your child suffer can be heartbreaking and fighting with your former spouse about how to help your child can be frustrating.

Parental Responsibility Allocations Determine Each Parent's Say in the Child's Treatment

In Illinois, the court develops a parenting time agreement and an allocation of parental responsibilities for divorcing couples with children. These replaced the terms “legal custody” and “physical custody” when the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act was revised in 2015.

Parental responsibilities refer to the rights each parent has to make decisions for the child. These responsibilities include the right to determine the child's religious upbringing and making choices regarding his or her education, such as the decision to enroll the child in private school. Another one of these responsibilities is the child's medical care. But this responsibility can be somewhat tricky. Unless one parent has his or her parental responsibilities terminated, both parents have the right to make emergency decisions regarding the child's medical care.

The ultimate say regarding substantial treatment, though, lies in the hands of the parent whose responsibility is to oversee the child's medical care. This can include all types of substantial treatment, such as an inpatient mental healthcare facility, substance abuse rehabilitation, the use of alternative therapies to treat his or her health problems, and cosmetic surgery.

Sometimes, Treatment Harms a Patients More Than It Helps

If you feel your former spouse's decisions regarding your child's healthcare are not in the child's best interest, you can petition the court to modify your parenting responsibilities agreement. Speak with your lawyer about this to determine if you have grounds for such a change.

Sometimes, new and untested medical treatments can be extremely dangerous and even certain established treatments have been proven to be more harmful to patients than beneficial. Other times, a parent can find that although they disagree with a particular decision, the decision in itself is not actually harmful and might have some benefits. An example of this is acupuncture, which can have a palliative effect for individuals suffering from chronic pain.

Work with an Experienced Kane County Family Attorney

If you are in a disagreement with your former spouse about your parenting responsibilities, work with an experienced family attorney to resolve the issue. An attorney can protect your rights and represent your interests during your interactions with the court. To get started, contact our team of experienced Kane County family attorneys at the Goostree Law Group to set up your initial consultation with us.

Source:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?ActID=2086&ChapterID=59&SeqStart=8300000&SeqEnd=10000000