To file a Petition for Allocation of Parental Responsibilities in Illinois, you prepare the petition together with a UCCJEA affidavit and a proposed parenting plan, then submit them electronically through the eFileIL system to the circuit court in the county where your children live, pay the filing fee (or apply for a waiver), and arrange for formal service on the other parent. The petition replaced the older “custody” filing and asks the court to allocate two things: who makes major decisions for the children, and when each parent has parenting time.
Information to Gather Before You File
Missing information will stall your filing or force you to amend. Pull the following together first:
- Full legal names and current addresses of both parents and every minor child covered by the petition.
- Each child’s exact date of birth.
- Every address where each child has lived during the past five years, along with the names and current addresses of everyone the child lived with during that period. This is a jurisdictional requirement under the Uniform Child-Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act.
- Case numbers, court names, and dates for any existing proceedings that could affect the children, including Orders of Protection, prior child support cases, guardianship proceedings, or custody-related cases in any state.
- Names and addresses of anyone who is not a parent but has physical custody of the children or claims custody or visitation rights.
The five-year residence history is what establishes Illinois as the proper state to hear the case. If a child recently moved to Illinois from another state, that history may show a different state still has home-state jurisdiction, and that has to be sorted out before an Illinois court can act.
The Documents You File Together
Three documents go in as a package: the petition itself, a UCCJEA affidavit, and a proposed parenting plan. You will also prepare a summons for the other parent.
The UCCJEA Affidavit
Under 750 ILCS 36/209, you must file a sworn affidavit disclosing the child’s current address and every place the child has lived for the last five years, the names and current addresses of everyone the child lived with, your involvement in any other custody or visitation proceedings (as a party, witness, or otherwise, including the court, case number, and any determination made), any other proceedings you know about that could affect this case (enforcement actions, domestic violence cases, protective orders, terminations of parental rights, or adoptions), and anyone else claiming custody or visitation who is not a party.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 36/209 – Information to Be Submitted to Court
If disclosing your address would put you or a family member at risk of abuse, you can omit it. The statute specifically protects domestic violence safe house addresses and addresses changed because of a protective order. Courts routinely reject filings that leave the affidavit out, so treat it as mandatory.
The Petition: Decision-Making
The petition allocates significant decision-making across four areas: education, healthcare, religious upbringing, and extracurricular activities.2Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5/602.7 – Allocation of Parental Responsibilities: Parenting Time For each area you propose either sole authority for one parent or joint authority shared between both. You can split them differently. One parent might handle education while the other handles healthcare, or you might propose joint authority for all four.
Joint decision-making does not require agreement on every routine matter. Day-to-day choices belong to whichever parent has the child at the time. When the court evaluates your proposal, it considers each parent’s past involvement in those decisions, the ability of the parents to cooperate, the level of conflict, and the child’s own wishes if the child is mature enough to express a reasoned preference.3FindLaw. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5/602.5 – Allocation of Significant Decision-Making Responsibilities
The Petition: Parenting Time
The parenting time section sets the schedule for where the children are physically located on any given day. Vague proposals like “reasonable parenting time” invite conflict and cannot be enforced, so build a schedule specific enough that a stranger could read it and know where the children should be. Cover three layers:
- The regular weekly schedule, including days, overnights, and pickup and drop-off times.
- Rotation of holidays and school breaks (Thanksgiving, winter break, spring break, summer vacation) year to year.
- Special occasions such as birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and dates your family observes.
The court measures parenting time proposals against 17 statutory factors focused on the child’s best interests. In practice the heavy factors are how much hands-on caregiving each parent provided during the 24 months before the petition was filed, each parent’s willingness to support the child’s relationship with the other parent, and the practical logistics of distance and daily schedules. Other factors include the child’s adjustment to home, school, and community; the mental and physical health of everyone involved; any history of domestic violence or abuse; and whether either parent is a convicted sex offender.
The Parenting Plan
Illinois requires a proposed parenting plan alongside the petition. If both parents agree, they can submit a joint plan. If not, each parent files their own and the court picks between them or crafts its own. The plan must include at least 14 elements under 750 ILCS 5/602.10.4Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5/602.10 – Parenting Plan Several go beyond a basic schedule and catch people off guard:
- A mediation clause covering how future parenting-time disputes get handled before returning to court, unless one parent has sole decision-making authority.
- A right of first refusal, if you want one, spelling out how long the child needs to be in someone else’s care before the other parent is offered the time, plus notification and transportation rules.
- Each parent’s right to access medical, dental, psychological, school, and childcare records.
- A designation of the child’s residential address for school enrollment purposes only.
- A requirement that either parent give at least 60 days’ written notice before changing address, including the new address and intended move date.
- Communication provisions covering phone and video contact with the other parent during parenting time.
- Transportation arrangements for exchanges and how the costs are split.
The plan also lists each parent’s home address, phone number, workplace, and work address. The petition opens the case; the parenting plan is what the court actually enforces once entered.
Filing Through eFileIL
All Illinois court filings go through the Odyssey eFileIL system.5Office of the Illinois Courts. How to e-File You cannot walk a paper petition into the clerk’s office. Choose an Electronic Filing Service Provider from the certified list on the Illinois Courts website, create an account, and upload your petition, UCCJEA affidavit, proposed parenting plan, and summons as PDF files.6Supreme Court of Illinois. eFileIL (Statewide e-Filing)
File in the circuit court for the county where the children currently live. That county is the proper venue. Filing fees for a family case run roughly $300, though the exact amount varies by county.7Jackson County Circuit Clerk. Civil Filing Fee Schedules
If you cannot afford the fee, file an Application for Waiver of Court Fees under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 298. The application asks for household size, whether you receive need-based public benefits, income, monthly expenses, and nonexempt assets. The court can grant a full waiver, a partial waiver, or approve payment in installments.8Illinois Courts. Supreme Court Rule 298 – Application for Waiver of Court Fees, Costs, and Charges
Once the clerk accepts your filing, you receive an electronic confirmation with your case number and filing date. That number tracks every future motion, hearing, and order.
Serving the Other Parent
After the filing is accepted, you must formally serve the other parent (the Respondent) with the Summons and Petition. Illinois allows three methods for serving an individual under 735 ILCS 5/2-203: handing the documents directly to the person, leaving them with a household member who is at least 13 years old at the person’s usual residence and mailing a copy to the same address, or other methods authorized by statute in limited circumstances.9FindLaw. Illinois Code 735 ILCS 5/2-203 – Service on Individuals Service is typically handled by the county sheriff or a licensed private process server. You cannot serve the papers yourself.
If you cannot locate the other parent after a genuine search, you can ask the court for permission to serve by publication in a local newspaper. Courts treat that as a last resort and expect documentation of the steps you took to find the person.
If the Other Parent Is in the Military
Under the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, you must file an affidavit stating whether the Respondent is on active military duty before any default judgment can be entered.10United States Courts. Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act A servicemember who cannot appear can apply for at least a 90-day stay by submitting a letter explaining how military duties prevent their appearance along with a statement from their commanding officer.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S. Code 3932 – Stay of Proceedings When Servicemember Has Notice The court must appoint an attorney for a military servicemember before entering a default judgment.
What Happens After You File
The Respondent has 30 days from the date of service to file an Appearance and a written Answer.12Lake County 19th Judicial Circuit Court. Frequently Asked Questions The Answer lets them agree with, dispute, or propose alternatives to what you requested. If the Respondent files a competing parenting plan, the court has two proposals to evaluate.
If 30 days pass with no response, you can ask the court for a default judgment. Default is not automatic. You still have to request it, and the court still evaluates whether your proposal serves the children’s best interests. The practical effect is that the Respondent loses the chance to present an alternative.
Once the response period closes, the court schedules an initial status hearing. The judge confirms that service was completed properly, finds out whether the parents have reached any agreements, and sets a timeline covering mediation, discovery, and a potential trial date if the case cannot settle.
Appointment of a Guardian Ad Litem or Child Representative
In contested cases the court may appoint an attorney to represent the children’s interests under 750 ILCS 5/506, either on its own initiative or at either parent’s request.13Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 750 ILCS 5/506 – Representation of Child A guardian ad litem investigates the facts, interviews both parents and the children, and submits a written report with recommendations at least 30 days before trial. A child representative advocates for what they determine to be in the child’s best interests after their own investigation, participating in the case like any other attorney by filing motions, questioning witnesses, and encouraging settlement. The cost is usually split between the parents, though the court can allocate fees differently based on ability to pay.