Child Custody Lawyer In Edwardsville

Fighting for Your Rights as a Parent

Nothing is more important or influential in a child’s life than being raised in the proper environment. Disputes over child custody (now referred to as “parental responsibilities”) are often the most contentious issues that arise in family law cases. Dustin Maguire is dedicated to fighting for your parental rights.

The legal standard for determining parental responsibilities and parenting time is the “best interests of the children” standard. As a court-approved guardian ad litem, Dustin is very familiar with the “best interest of the child” standard. There are 15 factors that Illinois courts take into consideration in determining a child’s best interests for purposes of allocating significant decision-making responsibilities.

Dustin Maguire provides the legal assistance clients need when fighting for the best interests of their children. He always encourages parents to work out a settlement before bringing parental responsibility issues before a judge. However, he is a zealous advocate in the courtroom and will fight for you and your children.

Child Support

Dustin Maguire is dedicated to protecting the rights of his clients while ensuring that the best interests of their children are being met. Whether you are seeking to obtain an initial child support order, enforce an existing child support order, or defend against being forced to pay too much child support, Dustin Maguire will fight for your rights in court.

Child support orders are frequently modified due to a number of changes that can occur in the lives of parents and their children. Changes in income and employment, increased needs of children, and failure of a parent to exercise the court-ordered periods of physical custody are just a few of the changes that a family law court will take into consideration when modifying child support.

Because only one parent can claim children as dependents in any given year, Dustin advises clients as to the tax ramifications involved in family law situations. Joint Parenting Agreements often include provisions determining which parent will get the benefit of the tax exemption. Sometimes, parties agree to alternate years for the tax exemption. In the absence of an agreement between the parties, IRS rules allow the parent who provides the greater amount of support to the child throughout the year to receive the benefit of the tax exemption. Dustin understands tax laws as applied to separated parents and helps clients through the difficult task of determining tax exemptions.

Parentage and Paternity

Accurately determining the paternity of a child is critical in any child’s life. Child custody, visitation, and child support all depend on the outcome of a paternity action. When a married couple has a child, there is an automatic presumption that the husband is the father of the child. However, in cases where a child is born out of wedlock, as is often the case today, a father has to file a paternity action to ensure that he has rights.

Dustin Maguire represents mothers seeking to establish paternity to secure child support, unmarried men seeking to be involved in the lives of their children, and alleged fathers who deny biological relation to a child.