The mission of Illinois Fathers, an Illinois Not for Profit Corporation, is to assist non-custodial parents in maintaining a meaningful and substantial relationship with their children and to educate the general public about the importance of such parent/child relationship.


Joseph Reyes, a law student out of Chicago, is battling his ex-wife in a case that may hold considerable stature over non-custodial parents across our state. At the heart of the matter is whether or not he should be allowed to take his daughter to church. Judge Edward Jordan of Cook County ( The same Judge over there ---> ) barred him from doing so in a restraining order, and it's possible that he may have to serve jail time for taking his daughter to church. The defense in this case is NOT cheap, and he is kindly asking the community as a whole to donate to his defense fund found at www.christianfatherdefensefund.com Please stop by and donate a little to help him out.


On February 20th, the board for Illinois Fathers met and discussed the business goals and objectives for the year ahead. We have designed a very ambitious, and very impressive plan for the year ahead. As we work out the details, which should be forth coming soon, we will announce the results of this year's board meeting for all of our membership. We hope that everyone will be as happy as we are! More to come!


Illinois Fathers met at the Peoria Court house in beautiful downtown Peoria to protest on behalf of David Ibhen. David, who's ex-wife moved away with their minor children is working hard to establish a joint parenting agreement and to have more than every other weekend and a weeknight evening with his daughter. Unfortunately, just as it happens all so often in Illinois, one party doesn't agree and as a result, sole custody was awarded with the standard every other weekend and one weeknight evening visitation. Mr. Ibhen is currently working on appealing the decision Pro-Se, but as anyone who's been Pro-Se in family court knows, it's a very steep climb! Illinois Fathers wishes Mr. Ibhen good luck on his case and hopes he can succeed. And we would certainly love to thank all those who skipped work to brave the frozen tundra and the vigilant parking enforcement officers. We had people from as far away as Indiana and St Louis! Your sacrifices are what makes it possible to show the impact of family law in our State. Thank you. You can find an interview of Mr. Ihben here on Youtube, you may also find photos of the event here on Flickr.


We will continue to track candidates across the State and will have updated information as the elections for 2010 continue. Please check back here: Election 2010 for more information on our elected candidates and their stances on family law. This year is one o f the most important in nearly 30 years for Family Law. It will take action from all of us to watch the candidates, listen to their stances, research the backgrounds and move for a vote that will put in place candidates who stand for protecting parental rights. Please stay tuned.


At the request of many of our members and since our friends at family2child.com have removed their site, you may now find the member roster of the Illinois Family Law Study Committee here. This committee was established by HR1101 by the 95th General Assembly. It is this committee's responsibility to analyze and make recommendations to modifications of Illinois Family Law (750 ILCS). We currently attend their meetings and report our findings through our mailing list and we'll continue to keep our members up to speed on the changes that this committee intends to recommend.


Illinois Fathers would like to request those who live near and around the Peoria area to support David Ihben in his protests outside the Tazewell County courthouse on January 20th from 9am to noonish. Please come out and help out.