Michelle A. Lawless,Law Office of Michelle A. Lawless LLC, Chicago
312-741-1092 | E-mail Michelle Lawless
Postjudgment Modification Order Granting Overnight Parenting Time Reversed; Mother Denied Due Process When Counsel Discharged Without Compliance with Supreme Court Rule 13
Postjudgment Modification Order Granting Overnight Parenting Time Reversed
In In re Marriage of Royer, 2025 IL App (2d) 240378, the trial court’s postjudgment modification order granting overnight parenting time was reversed. In a postjudgment action, the trial court modified the original parenting schedule, which had imposed restrictions on the ex-husband’s parenting time. The ex-husband had a series of significant medical issues, including a bipolar disorder diagnosis, debilitating pain, overwhelming fatigue, and a benign brain tumor. The ex-wife also expressed concerns that her ex-husband was abusing drugs. The court-appointed guardian ad litem (GAL) issued a report stating she was concerned with the ex-husband’s “self-medicating” and that she believed her ex-husband’s many health issues prevented him from placing the child’s needs ahead of his own. 2025 IL App (2d) 240378 at ¶8. The trial court entered a parenting agreement that reserved the ex-husband’s ability to have overnight parenting time, required him to have supervised parenting time, and imposed a number of conditions that had to be met before the ex-husband could file a petition to modify the restrictions on his parenting time. The ex-husband subsequently filed a motion to lift the restrictions less than two years after the entry of judgment. At the hearing, the GAL testified that she saw no change in his behavior since she submitted her original report, but that the child’s age warranted overnight parenting time, and recommended that parenting time remain supervised. The trial court entered an order granting overnight parenting time every other weekend even though it found that the ex-husband had not established a substantial change of circumstances warranting a modification. The court reasoned that it had the authority to modify the parenting time without a substantial change of circumstances if it is a minor modification pursuant to 750 ILCS 5/610(e). The ex-wife appealed, and the appellate court reversed. The record was clear since the beginning of the case that the ex-husband had serious medical conditions that prevented him from having unsupervised parenting time, and there was insufficient evidence to establish the modification was in the child’s best interests. The trial court’s finding that it was in the child’s best interests to have overnight parenting time was manifestly erroneous, as was its determination that the modification was a minor change pursuant to §610(e).
Mother Denied Due Process When Counsel Discharged Without Compliance with Supreme Court Rule 13
In a petition to terminate a mother’s parental rights, the trial court allowed the mother’s appointed counsel to withdraw upon the mother’s default in In re R.H., 2024 IL App (4th) 241048. The mother subsequently appealed after a hearing at which neither she nor her counsel was present that resulted in the termination of her parental rights. The appellate court reversed. Under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, 705 ILCS 405/1-1, et seq., parents subject to a proceeding to terminate parental rights are statutorily entitled to be represented by counsel. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 13 governs the withdrawal of counsel from a pending action. In this matter, absent from the record was a written motion to withdraw required by S.Ct. Rule 13(c)(3), notice of a motion to withdraw, or proof of service on the mother of an order discharging the mother’s counsel. The court erred when it discharged the mother’s counsel without compliance with S.Ct. Rule 13, which led to a hearing at which neither the mother nor her counsel was present. This was a violation of the mother’s due-process rights. The appellate court reversed and remanded for further proceedings.
For more information about family law, see ADOPTION LAW (IICLE®, 2024). Online Library subscribers can view it for free by clicking here. If you don’t currently subscribe to the Online Library, visit www.iicle.com/subscriptions.