You've been the working parent supporting your Illinois family—now you're losing custody because the other parent was the primary caretaker for 24 months. Illinois courts weigh primary caretaker history, work schedules, cooperation, and the child's wishes under statutes 602.5 and 602.7, often favoring day-to-day care over financial support. Sterling Lawyers' Managing Partner Katie VanDeusen and Partner Nina Kelly reveal which custody factors matter most and the mistakes that destroy your case.

In this episode, you'll learn about:

• Best interests of the child standard and which statutory factors carry the most weight
• Primary caretaker history and work schedule impact on custody outcomes
• Evidence that actually matters to judges versus what falls flat in contested cases
• Critical mistakes that unintentionally hurt parenting time requests
• Strategic tools to protect parental rights including temporary orders and third-party evaluators

Listen in to discover how to protect your Illinois parenting rights by avoiding critical mistakes like moving out without the kids before court orders exist, documenting all violations when the other parent withholds time, and getting custody evaluators or guardian ad litems involved when facing false allegations that create he-said-she-said scenarios.