The year 2016 brought about some striking changes to Illinois child custody laws with revisions to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5). Some of these revisions include removal of the term custody in favor of allocation of parental responsibilities, the introduction of decision-making responsibilities, the re-categorization of important decisions parents make in their child's life, and significant changes to what happens when a custodial parent chooses to move residences.
This article will be focusing primarily on moving and relocation. But to offer a short summary, Senate Bill 57 went into effect on January 1, 2016, officially changing custody laws in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) for the first time in many years.