Can I move my child out of Illinois?

Question

I have a child with a man I was never married to. There is NO legal paperowrk saying he gets visitation, nor do I have to let him see her. I gave him a 3mo notice I was moving bc of my job and gave him the new address. He got a lawyer to start visitation paperwork right after I told him. But there is still no paperwork to be seen saying he has set visitation. I'm needing to move in 3wks, but the real father is saying I'll be in BIG trouble if I leave the state of Illinois. I've talked to 3 different lawyers and have gotten 3 different answers about either yes or no if I can move. I know I'll have to come back for the court date, but that could be over 6mos down the road. Can I move til then and not get in trouble? I need someone who lives or has lived Illinois and has been through this to answer me back on how their case was handled.

Answer 1

At this point, because he has not legally be declared the father of your child, he cannot hold you to the state, especially if you are leaving because of your employer.  I used to live in Chicago and we moved to Michigan about 10 years ago and went through something similar.  

Until paternity has been established and the other parental unit has court ordered visits, he can't stop you from leaving the state. Now what will happen if you move is that once visitations have been established through the court, you may be required to allow your child to return to Illinois for scheduled visits.  Every other weekend, summers, some holidays and school breaks.  

It is very rare that a judge will hold one parent in a state when they are leaving because of employment, especially if it's not a matter of one parent being a bad parent.  He can't stop you from leaving the state but he can demand visits and in that case you may want to demand child support.  Not being mean but to ensure that if he is exercising his rights as a parent then you are making sure he is committing to it fully by supporting his child.

Good Luck to you!

Answer 2

there is no custody agreement in place so there is nothing legally holding you to illinois. unless you've been served with a court order yet, there's nothing he can do.  

Answer 3

Have you talked to someone @ family court in the Daley Center?  You really won't get a set answer because that's a touchy situation and usually it's handled on a case by case basis.  If you're moving for work then that's nothing you can prevent and a judge shouldn't look down on you for that.  And if you move you're not disobeying any order so you won't have any problems moving...as long as you show up for court.  You did a good thing giving him 90 days notice...that'll also look good on your part.  It's not like you left in the middle of the night. This happened to my sister and she didn't get into any BIG trouble because there wasn't a court order saying she had to stay in town.  Even though you weren't married, he still has rights to the child unless a court says he's unfit so you cannot deny him that but like I said, since there's no order then it's not kidnapping or anything like that.  You HAVE to move, it's work related...

If you haven't talked to someone @ family court, I suggest you get advice from someone there.  Also...these are the people my sister in law worked with for advice and referrals for a lawyer

http://www.findgreatlawyers.com/CookCoun...

Answer 4

If the visitation does not mention anything inrefence to you relocating then yes, you can move. He will just need to go to Illinois for visitation .

Answer 5

if he is on the birth certificate then he has a right to this child wheater you want him to see him/her or not...i believe that both parents have to agree in order for a child to move from one state to another, and i think that if he has started some visitation paperwork then if you do move it will get really stressful for you and your child. i would wait it out..or check some more lawyers.  

Answer 6

He can sue you for abandonment even if he has no legal paperwork, if he is on the birth certificate as the father. He can exercise his rights and prevent you from moving the child out of state at any time. You can probably get away with moving, but he could get an injunction, prohibiting you moving until after the custody case goes to trial, at which point you will be in contempt of court if you proceed with the move. I recommend staying put until this is resolved. The court almost always sides with the custodial parent in these cases. Even if he gets visitation rights, you can still move, it will be his responsiblity to make the effort to see his child.

Answer 7

I have not lived this. But because there is no paperwork, then I would think you would be able to move. But once the paperwork is filed, then your daughter would have to travel back and forth from state to state. You should check out some more lawyers. Good Luck.