Removal-Cases-Include-Mediation-in-Child-Custody
I recently wrote about removal under Illinois family law, and wanted to share an important update on that topic. On July 1, the Illinois Supreme Court amended its rules to expand mediation in child custody cases to include removal. The change will take effect on September 1, 2013.
In 2006, the Illinois Supreme Court issued rules to streamline child custody cases throughout Illinois. That reform focused not only on speeding up child custody cases, but also on making mediation programs available for child custody and visitation cases.
With the recent changes, each circuit court in Illinois must now expand its mediation program to removal cases. As I’ve discussed before, these are cases where the issue is whether to allow a custodial parent to take the child out of state.
Mediation can be a useful tool in divorce, custody, visitation, and now removal cases. Mediation is less adversarial and may be a quick and flexible alternative for some divorcing couples or divorced parents in removal, visitation, and custody cases. And even just having a mediation option in your local court takes stress off the court system—with more cases in mediation, the family court’s docket becomes less clogged.
Mediation can have some drawbacks in complicated or contentious removal cases Not all mediators are attorneys, so in complicated cases, it is important to have the counsel of a Chicago divorce lawyer.
The new rule also requires that each court file quarterly
reports on how its mediation program is working. As this data comes in, it will be interesting to see how expanded mediation programs are running. Be sure to stay tuned to this blog for updates. As a Chicago divorce lawyer, I have had a lot of experience in removal cases. Please contact me for more information at 312-621-1230
