Child custody issues in Illinois are settled on the basis of the best interests of the child. The family court will address the issue at hand and reach a judgment that meets the child’s best interests.
Generally, this involves one parent being awarded physical custody and the other parent being awarded visitation. However, the court has several options at its disposal. One of those options is supervised visitation.
When might the court order supervised visitation?
When the relationship is new
While custody issues are often a part of divorce proceedings, this isn’t always the case. For instance, a biological parent may only just have found out that they had a child, and now want to form a relationship with them. If parent and child have been estranged for years, then having instant unsupervised visits may not be feasible.
Instead, the court can order supervised visitation while the parent and child get to know one another. Once the relationship has started to blossom, supervised visits can be exchanged for full unsupervised visitation rights, as long as that is in the best interests of the child.
Physical and mental health issues
In some cases, physical and health issues concerning either the parent or child can make supervised visitation necessary. The parent or child may simply not be up to unsupervised visits. As supervised visitation is generally a temporary measure, the court can assess the condition of either the parent or child and adjustments can be made based on health improvements.
Other common reasons for supervised visitation include:
- When there is a history of domestic abuse
- When one parent is recovering from substance addiction
- When one parent has failed to stick to custody schedules
To find out more about supervised visitation, the best place to start is to seek legal guidance.
