Can a Parent Lose Parenting Time for Leaving a Child Alone?

 Posted on February 11, 2025 in Family Law

Your divorce is finally over, and you and your ex have settled into a routine with the children that seems to be working fairly well. He has parenting time with the children one night during each week and every other Friday through Sunday. You have one child who just turned 14, one who is four, and one who is eight. As difficult as your divorce was, you have never really had any qualms about his ability to parent your children.

Then you get a call at 11:00 p.m. on Friday night. It is your fourteen-year-old who is crying and telling you she and her siblings are alone – their dad is nowhere to be found. You immediately attempt to call your ex, but the calls go straight to voicemail. As you drive to his home, you are torn between worrying that something could be wrong with him and being furious with him for leaving the children alone.

There is no sign of your ex or his car, and he is still not answering his phone, so you gather up the children and take them to your home. Saturday morning, you receive an angry phone call from your ex, berating you for taking the children. After all, he says, the eldest is fourteen, so that makes it "legal" in Illinois. He says he went out with friends; the children were asleep and safe, and that you are the "kidnapper" for taking them from his home.   

How does a situation like this get resolved? Could you actually be in trouble for taking the children back to your home? Could he be in trouble for leaving them alone? Should you have filed a police report? What should you do now? The best step you can take right now is to contact an experienced Geneva, IL custody/allocation of parental responsibilities attorney from Serrano Hanson & Hurtado, LLC. This is a complex situation that requires a knowledgeable legal professional.

Is It Illegal to Leave Children Home Alone in Illinois?

In the state of Illinois, it is illegal to leave a child under the age of 14 home alone without supervision for an "unreasonable amount of time." Doing so can potentially result in criminal charges. Depending on the circumstances, a parent who leaves a child under the age of 14 home alone could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor or a Class 3 felony.    

In the situation above, the oldest child was 14 years old – but the other two were not. Is the fourteen-year-old considered to be "supervision" for the other two? It would seem that a reasonable person would, at a minimum, wonder why the father did not tell the 14-year-old that he was leaving for a specific period of time.  

What if something had happened to a child while he was gone? The eldest daughter had no idea he was gone, which had to be a scary situation for her.  Most reasonable people would likely feel that what the father did left his children in a potentially unsafe situation. Could the father lose his parenting time if the mother takes him back to court? Should she file criminal charges against him?

What Should the Mother in This Situation Do?

There are many unknowns in this situation, but if the mother believes the children are in danger from being left alone and the father is likely to do the same thing again, she can return to court and try to limit the father’s parenting time. Courts will go out of their way to ensure children have regular time with both parents after a divorce, but the court will not put a child in a situation that could potentially be unsafe.

Contact a Kane County, IL Parenting Time Lawyer

This is definitely a sticky situation. Speaking to a Geneva, IL parenting time attorney from Serrano Hanson & Hurtado, LLC can give you some perspective on the issue and help you determine your next step. Our attorneys are knowledgeable, experienced, and compassionate. Call 630-844-8781 to schedule an initial consultation. We are fluent in Spanish and English.