In re Marriage of Rabbat

2023 IL App (3d) 220174-U
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedOctober 31, 2023
Docket3-22-0174
StatusUnpublished

This text of 2023 IL App (3d) 220174-U (In re Marriage of Rabbat) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Marriage of Rabbat, 2023 IL App (3d) 220174-U (Ill. Ct. App. 2023).

Opinion

NOTICE: This order was filed under Supreme Court Rule 23 and may not be cited as precedent by any party except in the limited circumstances allowed under Rule 23(e)(1).

2023 IL App (3d) 220174-U

Order filed October 31, 2023 ____________________________________________________________________________

IN THE

APPELLATE COURT OF ILLINOIS

THIRD DISTRICT

IN RE MARRIAGE OF ) Appeal from the Circuit Court ) of the 18th Judicial Circuit, JOYCE RABBAT, ) Du Page County, Illinois. ) Petitioner-Appellee, ) ) Appeal No. 3-22-0174 and ) Circuit No. 19-D-940 ) GORAN TOPALO, ) The Honorable ) Kenton J. Skarin, Respondent-Appellant. ) Judge, Presiding.

JUSTICE HETTEL delivered the judgment of the court. Presiding Justice Holdridge and Justice Peterson concurred in the judgment.

ORDER

¶1 Held: In dissolution action, trial court did not err in (1) awarding mother sole religious decision-making responsibilities where she and father agreed she would take the lead on religion, or (2) granting mother slightly more parenting time, including Sundays and religious holidays, where she is more actively involved in child’s religious upbringing.

¶2 Petitioner Joyce Rabbat and respondent Goran Topalo were married in 2017, had a son,

J.T., in 2018, and began dissolution proceedings in 2019. In 2021, the trial court entered a judgment of dissolution but reserved issues of parenting time and allocation of parental responsibilities.

Following hearings on those issues, the trial court entered an order (1) allocating decision-making

responsibilities to both parents with respect to significant educational, medical and extracurricular

decisions involving J.T., (2) allocating sole religious decision-making responsibilities to Joyce, (3)

designating Joyce as the parent with the majority of the parenting time, and (4) granting Goran

parenting time with J.T. three nights and three days per week. Goran appeals, arguing that the trial

court erred in granting Joyce sole religious decision-making responsibilities and allocating to her

the majority of parenting time, including Sundays and religious holidays. We affirm.

¶3 I. BACKGROUND

¶4 Joyce Rabbat and Goran Topalo were married on July 29, 2017, at an Eastern Rite Catholic

church. On July 6, 2018, Joyce and Goran had a son, J.T. On May 22, 2019, Joyce filed a petition

for dissolution of marriage. On June 6, 2019, Goran filed a petition for establishment of temporary

parenting time and appointment of a guardian ad litem (GAL). On June 13, 2019, the trial court

appointed Chuck Roberts as GAL. On August 20, 2019, the trial court appointed Dr. Robert

Shapiro to perform mental health evaluations of Joyce and Goran, pursuant to Illinois Supreme

Court Rule 215(a) (eff. Jan. 1, 2018). The court also granted Goran temporary parenting time.

¶5 On November 13, 2019, the trial court entered an order granting Goran parenting time with

J.T. every Tuesday from 7:30 am to 11 am, every Thursday from 7 pm to Friday at 7 pm, and every

Sunday from 1:30 pm to 7 pm. On January 21, 2020, the trial court entered a modified parenting

schedule granting Goran parenting time with J.T. every other week from Thursday at 7 pm to

Sunday at 9 am, and on alternating weeks from Monday at 7 pm to Tuesday at 11 am and Thursday

at 7 pm to Friday at 11 am.

2 ¶6 On February 25, 2020, the trial court appointed Roger Hatcher as an evaluator, pursuant to

section 604.10(b) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (Act) (750 ILCS

5/604.10(b) (West 2020)). On April 15, 2020, Goran filed a counter-petition for dissolution of

marriage. On September 30, 2020, the trial court entered an order appointing Gerald Blechman as

Joyce’s evaluator, pursuant to section 604.10(c) of the Act (id. § 604.10(c)). The court also

modified the parenting schedule to provide Goran parenting time with J.T. every week from

Monday at 7 pm to Tuesday at 11 am and alternating weeks from Thursday at 7 pm to Friday at 2

pm or Thursday at 7 pm to Sunday at 9 am.

¶7 On December 2, 2021, the parties signed a marital settlement agreement (MSA). On

December 8, 2021, the trial court entered a judgment for dissolution of marriage incorporating the

MSA and reserving issues involving the child.

¶8 The trial on the remaining issues was held over six days in December 2022. Chuck Roberts,

the GAL, testified that Joyce lives in Oak Brook and is a medical doctor, and Goran lives in

Elmhurst and works as a dentist. Roberts met the families of each parent. According to Roberts,

Goran’s parents said nothing negative about Joyce, while Joyce’s brother and mother had many

negative things to say about Goran.

¶9 Roberts recommended that Goran and Joyce equally share parenting time by having J.T.

reside with each of them for one week at a time and have one mid-week dinner with the other

parent. He said he recommended a 50/50 parenting schedule “[t]o make sure that neither side has

the ability to exclude the importance, significance and impact of the other parent.” Roberts also

recommended that the parents have joint decision-making in all areas to “make sure that neither

side is able to exclude the other side.” Roberts testified that he had concerns about Joyce’s

willingness to foster a relationship between J.T. and Goran.

3 ¶ 10 Roberts testified that at the time of trial, Goran’s parenting time was scheduled to end on

Sundays at 9 am so that J.T. could attend church with Joyce every Sunday. Roberts testified that

“religion is more of a priority for Joyce than it is for Goran.” Roberts recommended: “Going

forward both parties should be allowed to celebrate their faith in whatever manner they deem

appropriate.” Roberts stated he was “concerned that [J.T.] has not been baptized at this point.”

¶ 11 Dr. Robert Hatcher, a clinical psychologist who has performed “well over a thousand”

court-ordered evaluations, testified and drafted two reports, which were admitted into evidence.

Dr. Hatcher met with both parents individually five or six times. He determined that neither had

any psychological or psychiatric problems that warranted diagnosis or treatment.

¶ 12 Dr. Hatcher observed each parent with J.T. and found they both interacted well with him

and that J.T. seemed very comfortable with both parents. Dr. Hatcher administered two

psychological tests to the parties and concluded: “[B]oth parents were competent and fully capable

of making decisions for the child and working together in a joint parenting relationship.”

¶ 13 Dr. Hatcher recommended that Joyce and Goran share decision-making responsibilities.

Dr. Hatcher recommended that Goran have parenting time with J.T. Thursday to Sunday in

alternating weeks and Thursday to Friday in opposing weeks, as well as every Tuesday morning.

He recommended that once J.T. reaches five years of age, he should spend alternate weeks with

each parent with perhaps a brief mid-week visit with the other parent.

¶ 14 With respect to religion, Dr. Hatcher noted “no significant difference” between Goran and

Joyce. He stated: “They’re both Catholic. One is in the Eastern Rite. The other is Orthodox. But

there was nothing *** that would oppose their cooperation on religious training for this child, and

they both agree this child would be raised in the Catholic tradition.” Dr. Hatcher stated that the

parties agreed that Joyce would “take the lead on religion” both during and after the marriage.

4 ¶ 15 Dr.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

In Re Marriage of Pfeiffer
604 N.E.2d 1069 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1992)
In re Marriage of Debra N.
2013 IL App (1st) 122145 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2014)
In re Marriage of Agers
2013 IL App (5th) 120375 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2013)
In re Custody of G.L.
2017 IL App (1st) 163171 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2017)
In re Marriage of Whitehead
2018 IL App (5th) 170380 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2018)
In re Marriage of Verhines
2018 IL App (2d) 171034 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2019)
Jameson v. Williams
2020 IL App (3d) 200048 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2020)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2023 IL App (3d) 220174-U, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-marriage-of-rabbat-illappct-2023.