Chicago divorce and custody attorney - be careful what you wish for!
There are several phrases that are often included in divorce judgments or other court orders related to children and parenting. These sound innocent, and even good, at first glance, but they have been proven to be very-expensive when fights erupt over their meaning, and courtrooms are full of people fighting over court orders and divorce judgments that include phrases like this:
Visitation or parenting time "Every other weekend." Sounds OK, right? Everyone should be able to figure out what weekend he or she has with the kids -- now add in some special occasions and holidays, a little swapping and trading (or banking) of a weekend or two, and now you've lost all track of what actual weekend each parent is supposed to have. And what's worse, no court can really enforce language that is so vague.
"Each party shall be responsible for paying 50% of the extracurricular activity expenses of the minor child." This one phrase, or similar language, is a real courtroom-filler and conflict-causer. The problem is when the amounts are small ($40 enrollment fee) for some activity, but the back-and-forth communication (email, text or sometimes in-person or phone conversations) can consume hours and really upset the peace of each parent's life and household.
"Each parent shall be responsible for transporting the minor child to any activities scheduled to take place during that parent's parenting time." There are many variations of this language, but they are all awful. Truly awful. I have seen thousands of dollars consumed in court fights over this issue -- should one parent have to taxi around to the child to activities during his or her time. In theory, a child should be able to participate in a range of activities or sports, or go to friends' birthday parties or other invited events. In actual practice, one parent (usually the 'custodial' or 'residential' parent) will simply schedule activities and then announce them to the other parent, expecting or demanding that the other parent transport the child to each and every activity scheduled during their time.
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If you're about to agree to phrases like these, or you are now fighting with the other parent over the meaning and scope of phrases like these, please call me at 312-493-4241 day or night, 7 days/week.
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REALLY BAD PHRASES
Visitation or parenting time "Every other weekend." Sounds OK, right? Everyone should be able to figure out what weekend he or she has with the kids -- now add in some special occasions and holidays, a little swapping and trading (or banking) of a weekend or two, and now you've lost all track of what actual weekend each parent is supposed to have. And what's worse, no court can really enforce language that is so vague.
"Each party shall be responsible for paying 50% of the extracurricular activity expenses of the minor child." This one phrase, or similar language, is a real courtroom-filler and conflict-causer. The problem is when the amounts are small ($40 enrollment fee) for some activity, but the back-and-forth communication (email, text or sometimes in-person or phone conversations) can consume hours and really upset the peace of each parent's life and household.
"Each parent shall be responsible for transporting the minor child to any activities scheduled to take place during that parent's parenting time." There are many variations of this language, but they are all awful. Truly awful. I have seen thousands of dollars consumed in court fights over this issue -- should one parent have to taxi around to the child to activities during his or her time. In theory, a child should be able to participate in a range of activities or sports, or go to friends' birthday parties or other invited events. In actual practice, one parent (usually the 'custodial' or 'residential' parent) will simply schedule activities and then announce them to the other parent, expecting or demanding that the other parent transport the child to each and every activity scheduled during their time.
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If you're about to agree to phrases like these, or you are now fighting with the other parent over the meaning and scope of phrases like these, please call me at 312-493-4241 day or night, 7 days/week.
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