Background
Nancy Reynolds and Christopher I. Reynolds Sr., who were never married, entered a 2016 agreed allocation judgment concerning their two daughters. It gave Nancy primary parenting time and significant decision-making authority, while Christopher received weekly overnight parenting time and alternating weekends.
In 2021, Christopher sought broader changes, but later amended his request to seek only additional parenting time. He relied on changes including his remote work, larger home, the children’s ages and relationships with half-siblings, and one child’s autism diagnosis. After Christopher presented his evidence, the McHenry County circuit court granted Nancy’s motion for a directed finding, holding that he had not proved a substantial, unanticipated change in circumstances under section 610.5(c) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act.
The Court’s Holding
The Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the appellate court’s ruling that section 610.5(a), rather than section 610.5(c), governs a motion seeking only to modify parenting time. Under subsection (a), the moving parent must show changed circumstances that necessitate a parenting-time modification to serve the child’s best interests; the parent need not prove a substantial or unanticipated change in circumstances.
The court held that applying subsection (c)’s substantial-change requirement to parenting-time requests would make subsection (a)’s express standard superfluous. It overruled In re Marriage of Trapkus to the extent that decision treated subsection (a) merely as a gateway to a hearing under subsection (c). Because the circuit court applied the wrong standard and the record established changes in circumstances, its directed finding was against the manifest weight of the evidence. The case returns to the circuit court to decide whether the changes necessitate modification in the children’s best interests and, if Christopher’s proof survives the directed-finding motion, to resume the evidentiary hearing with Nancy’s case.
Key Takeaways
- A request solely to modify parenting time is governed by section 610.5(a) of the Act.
- The required showing is changed circumstances and best-interest necessity, not a substantial or unanticipated change.
- Section 610.5(c) governs modifications of parenting plans or allocation judgments, rather than a stand-alone parenting-time request.
Why It Matters
The decision resolves a split among Illinois appellate districts and supplies the governing standard for stand-alone parenting-time modification motions. Parents seeking more or less parenting time face a lower changed-circumstances threshold than parties seeking to modify other components of an allocation judgment or parenting plan.
The ruling does not itself award Christopher additional parenting time. The circuit court must still determine whether the proven changes make modification necessary to serve the children’s best interests.