In Re Marriage Of Turk

12 N.E.3d 40 (2014)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Iris (W) and Steven (H) were married in October of 1993 and have two sons. In 2004, W filed a petition in the circuit court of Cook County seeking dissolution of the marriage, a division of the property, sole custody of the boys, and an award of maintenance and child support. H, in turn, filed a counter-petition for dissolution requesting, among other things, that the award of custody be joint. The court entered an agreed judgment dissolving the marriage. H would pay W $4,000 per month in unallocated maintenance and child support for 42 months, that the parties would have joint custody of the children, that the children would reside with W, and that H would provide the medical insurance for the children and cover 50% of their out-of-pocket medical and dental costs. Eventually, in October of 2010, the court granted temporary physical custody of the two boys to H, limited W to supervised visitation, and made a one-time reduction in the amount H was then paying for child support. H filed a petition asking that his obligation to pay child support be terminated completely. That petition was granted in part and denied in part pursuant to an agreed order under which H was required to pay $700 per month 'based upon the current parenting schedule.' H asked the court to order W to pay child support to him. On July 28, 2012, the circuit court entered an agreed 'custody judgment and parenting order' which specified that H was to have 'the sole care, custody, control and education' of the boys and gave him authority to make 'major decisions in connection with [their] education, health, care and religious training,' subject to various conditions involving communication and cooperation. W was granted regular visitation with Nathan once a week, for dinner on Wednesdays. Her regular visitation with Jacob was substantially longer, with weekly visits from Monday to Wednesday mornings, plus alternating weekends, a system which gave her nearly equal time with him. Based upon the provisions of the agreed order and a determination that H earned approximately $150,000 per year while W's earnings were less than $10,000 per year, the court ordered H to pay W child support of $600 per month and made him 'solely responsible for all uncovered medical, dental, orthodontia, psychological and optical expenses for the children.' H appealed and appealed an affirmation of the order by the appellate court.