Bill Text: IL HB1589 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Provides that any temporary order that modifies custody, in whole or in part, because of a party's deployment as a member of the United States Armed Forces must also provide that after a specified time following the end of the deployment, the custody order in effect prior to the deployment must be reinstated, unless the other party, who bears the burden of proof, shows that it is not in the best interest of the child to reinstate the order. Provides that if the party who was not deployed contests reinstatement of the prior order, that party bears the burden of proof to show that it should not be reinstated. Provides that in a custody hearing in which a parent is a member of the United States Armed Forces who is deployed or who has orders to be deployed: the proceedings shall, upon the service member's request, receive expedited priority in being set for hearing; the service member shall be permitted to testify by telephone or other electronic means when the service member is unavailable to appear due to the deployment; and, upon motion, the court may allow the deployed parent to designate another person to exercise the visitation that the deployed parent has under the existing order, if the court determines that it is in the child's best interest. Makes other changes.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2012-01-13 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 97-0659 [HB1589 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HB1589-Introduced.html

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97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2011 and 2012 HB1589 Introduced 2/15/2011, by Rep. Robert W. Pritchard SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
750 ILCS 5/603 from Ch. 40, par. 603
750 ILCS 5/606 from Ch. 40, par. 606
750 ILCS 5/607 from Ch. 40, par. 607
750 ILCS 5/610 from Ch. 40, par. 610
Amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Provides that any temporary order that modifies custody, in whole or in part, because of a party's deployment as a member of the United States Armed Forces must also provide that after a specified time following the end of the deployment, the custody order in effect prior to the deployment must be reinstated, unless the other party, who bears the burden of proof, shows that it is not in the best interest of the child to reinstate the order. Provides that if the party who was not deployed contests reinstatement of the prior order, that party bears the burden of proof to show that it should not be reinstated. Provides that in a custody hearing in which a parent is a member of the United States Armed Forces who is deployed or who has orders to be deployed: the proceedings shall, upon the service member's request, receive expedited priority in being set for hearing; the service member shall be permitted to testify by telephone or other electronic means when the service member is unavailable to appear due to the deployment; and, upon motion, the court may allow the deployed parent to designate another person to exercise the visitation that the deployed parent has under the existing order, if the court determines that it is in the child's best interest. Makes other changes.
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A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning civil law.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of
Marriage Act is amended by changing Sections 603, 606, 607, and
610 as follows:
(750 ILCS 5/603) (from Ch. 40, par. 603)
Sec. 603. Temporary Orders.
(a) A party to a custody proceeding, including a proceeding
to modify custody, may move for a temporary custody order. The
court may award temporary custody under the standards of
Section 602 and the standards and procedures of Section 602.1,
after a hearing, or, if there is no objection, solely on the
basis of the affidavits. Any temporary custody order that
modifies custody, in whole or in part, because of a party's
deployment as a member of the United States Armed Forces must
also provide that after a specified time after the end of the
deployment, the custody order in effect prior to the deployment
must be reinstated unless the other party, who bears the burden
of proof, contests the reinstatement and shows that it is not
in the best interest of the child to reinstate the custody
order.
(b) If a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or legal

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separation or declaration of invalidity of marriage is
dismissed, any temporary custody order is vacated unless a
parent or the child's custodian moves that the proceeding
continue as a custody proceeding and the court finds, after a
hearing, that the circumstances of the parents and the best
interest of the child requires that a custody judgment be
issued.
(c) If a custody proceeding commenced in the absence of a
petition for dissolution of marriage or legal separation, under
either subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (1), or paragraph (2), of
subsection (d) of Section 601, is dismissed, any temporary
custody order is vacated.
(Source: P.A. 86-530; 87-1255.)
(750 ILCS 5/606) (from Ch. 40, par. 606)
Sec. 606. Hearings.
(a) Custody proceedings shall receive priority in being set
for hearing.
(b) The court may tax as costs the payment of necessary
travel and other expenses incurred by any person whose presence
at the hearing the court deems necessary to determine the best
interest of the child.
(c) The court, without a jury, shall determine questions of
law and fact. If it finds that a public hearing may be
detrimental to the child's best interest, the court may exclude
the public from a custody hearing, but may admit any person who

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has a direct and legitimate interest in the particular case or
a legitimate educational or research interest in the work of
the court.
(d) If the court finds it necessary, in order to protect
the child's welfare, that the record of any interview, report,
investigation, or testimony in a custody proceeding be kept
secret, the court may make an appropriate order sealing the
record.
(e) Previous statements made by the child relating to any
allegations that the child is an abused or neglected child
within the meaning of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting
Act, or an abused or neglected minor within the meaning of the
Juvenile Court Act of 1987, shall be admissible in evidence in
a hearing concerning custody of or visitation with the child.
No such statement, however, if uncorroborated and not subject
to cross-examination, shall be sufficient in itself to support
a finding of abuse or neglect.
(f) Custody and visitation proceedings in which a parent is
a member of the United States Armed Forces who is deployed or
who has orders to be deployed shall, upon a request of the
service member, receive expedited priority in being set for
hearing.
(g) In any custody or visitation proceeding in which a
parent is a member of the United States Armed Forces who is
deployed or who has orders to be deployed, the court shall,
upon a request of the service member, permit the deployed

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parent who is unavailable to appear for the proceeding to
testify by telephone, audiovisual means, or other electronic
means. The court shall cooperate with the deployed parent in
designating an appropriate location for the testimony.
(Source: P.A. 87-1081.)
(750 ILCS 5/607) (from Ch. 40, par. 607)
Sec. 607. Visitation.
(a) A parent not granted custody of the child is entitled
to reasonable visitation rights unless the court finds, after a
hearing, that visitation would endanger seriously the child's
physical, mental, moral or emotional health. If the custodian's
street address is not identified, pursuant to Section 708, the
court shall require the parties to identify reasonable
alternative arrangements for visitation by a non-custodial
parent, including but not limited to visitation of the minor
child at the residence of another person or at a local public
or private facility.
(1) "Visitation" means in-person time spent between a
child and the child's parent. In appropriate
circumstances, it may include electronic communication
under conditions and at times determined by the court.
(2) "Electronic communication" means time that a
parent spends with his or her child during which the child
is not in the parent's actual physical custody, but which
is facilitated by the use of communication tools such as

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the telephone, electronic mail, instant messaging, video
conferencing or other wired or wireless technologies via
the Internet, or another medium of communication.
(a-3) Grandparents, great-grandparents, and siblings of a
minor child, who is one year old or older, have standing to
bring an action in circuit court by petition, requesting
visitation in accordance with this Section. The term "sibling"
in this Section means a brother, sister, stepbrother, or
stepsister of the minor child. Grandparents,
great-grandparents, and siblings also have standing to file a
petition for visitation and any electronic communication
rights in a pending dissolution proceeding or any other
proceeding that involves custody or visitation issues,
requesting visitation in accordance with this Section. A
petition for visitation with a child by a person other than a
parent must be filed in the county in which the child resides.
Nothing in this subsection (a-3) and subsection (a-5) of this
Section shall apply to a child in whose interests a petition is
pending under Section 2-13 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 or
a petition to adopt an unrelated child is pending under the
Adoption Act.
(a-5)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection
(a-5), any grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling may file
a petition for visitation rights to a minor child if there is
an unreasonable denial of visitation by a parent and at least
one of the following conditions exists:

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(A) (Blank);
(A-5) the child's other parent is deceased or has been
missing for at least 3 months. For the purposes of this
Section a parent is considered to be missing if the
parent's location has not been determined and the parent
has been reported as missing to a law enforcement agency;
(A-10) a parent of the child is incompetent as a matter
of law;
(A-15) a parent has been incarcerated in jail or prison
during the 3 month period preceding the filing of the
petition;
(B) the child's mother and father are divorced or have
been legally separated from each other or there is pending
a dissolution proceeding involving a parent of the child or
another court proceeding involving custody or visitation
of the child (other than any adoption proceeding of an
unrelated child) and at least one parent does not object to
the grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling having
visitation with the child. The visitation of the
grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling must not
diminish the visitation of the parent who is not related to
the grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling seeking
visitation;
(C) (Blank);
(D) the child is born out of wedlock, the parents are
not living together, and the petitioner is a maternal

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grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling of the child
born out of wedlock; or
(E) the child is born out of wedlock, the parents are
not living together, the petitioner is a paternal
grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling, and the
paternity has been established by a court of competent
jurisdiction.
(2) Any visitation rights granted pursuant to this Section
before the filing of a petition for adoption of a child shall
automatically terminate by operation of law upon the entry of
an order terminating parental rights or granting the adoption
of the child, whichever is earlier. If the person or persons
who adopted the child are related to the child, as defined by
Section 1 of the Adoption Act, any person who was related to
the child as grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling prior
to the adoption shall have standing to bring an action pursuant
to this Section requesting visitation with the child.
(3) In making a determination under this subsection (a-5),
there is a rebuttable presumption that a fit parent's actions
and decisions regarding grandparent, great-grandparent, or
sibling visitation are not harmful to the child's mental,
physical, or emotional health. The burden is on the party
filing a petition under this Section to prove that the parent's
actions and decisions regarding visitation times are harmful to
the child's mental, physical, or emotional health.
(4) In determining whether to grant visitation, the court

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shall consider the following:
(A) the preference of the child if the child is
determined to be of sufficient maturity to express a
preference;
(B) the mental and physical health of the child;
(C) the mental and physical health of the grandparent,
great-grandparent, or sibling;
(D) the length and quality of the prior relationship
between the child and the grandparent, great-grandparent,
or sibling;
(E) the good faith of the party in filing the petition;
(F) the good faith of the person denying visitation;
(G) the quantity of the visitation time requested and
the potential adverse impact that visitation would have on
the child's customary activities;
(H) whether the child resided with the petitioner for
at least 6 consecutive months with or without the current
custodian present;
(I) whether the petitioner had frequent or regular
contact or visitation with the child for at least 12
consecutive months;
(J) any other fact that establishes that the loss of
the relationship between the petitioner and the child is
likely to harm the child's mental, physical, or emotional
health; and
(K) whether the grandparent, great-grandparent, or

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sibling was a primary caretaker of the child for a period
of not less than 6 consecutive months.
(5) The court may order visitation rights for the
grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling that include
reasonable access without requiring overnight or possessory
visitation.
(a-7)(1) Unless by stipulation of the parties, no motion to
modify a grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling visitation
order may be made earlier than 2 years after the date the order
was filed, unless the court permits it to be made on the basis
of affidavits that there is reason to believe the child's
present environment may endanger seriously the child's mental,
physical, or emotional health.
(2) The court shall not modify an order that grants
visitation to a grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling
unless it finds by clear and convincing evidence, upon the
basis of facts that have arisen since the prior visitation
order or that were unknown to the court at the time of entry of
the prior visitation, that a change has occurred in the
circumstances of the child or his or her custodian, and that
the modification is necessary to protect the mental, physical,
or emotional health of the child. The court shall state in its
decision specific findings of fact in support of its
modification or termination of the grandparent,
great-grandparent, or sibling visitation. A child's parent may
always petition to modify visitation upon changed

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circumstances when necessary to promote the child's best
interest.
(3) Attorney fees and costs shall be assessed against a
party seeking modification of the visitation order if the court
finds that the modification action is vexatious and constitutes
harassment.
(4) Notice under this subsection (a-7) shall be given as
provided in subsections (c) and (d) of Section 601.
(b) (1) (Blank.)
(1.5) The Court may grant reasonable visitation privileges
to a stepparent upon petition to the court by the stepparent,
with notice to the parties required to be notified under
Section 601 of this Act, if the court determines that it is in
the best interests and welfare of the child, and may issue any
necessary orders to enforce those visitation privileges. A
petition for visitation privileges may be filed under this
paragraph (1.5) whether or not a petition pursuant to this Act
has been previously filed or is currently pending if the
following circumstances are met:
(A) the child is at least 12 years old;
(B) the child resided continuously with the parent and
stepparent for at least 5 years;
(C) the parent is deceased or is disabled and is unable
to care for the child;
(D) the child wishes to have reasonable visitation with
the stepparent; and

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(E) the stepparent was providing for the care, control,
and welfare to the child prior to the initiation of the
petition for visitation.
(2)(A) A petition for visitation privileges shall not be
filed pursuant to this subsection (b) by the parents or
grandparents of a putative father if the paternity of the
putative father has not been legally established.
(B) A petition for visitation privileges may not be filed
under this subsection (b) if the child who is the subject of
the grandparents' or great-grandparents' petition has been
voluntarily surrendered by the parent or parents, except for a
surrender to the Illinois Department of Children and Family
Services or a foster care facility, or has been previously
adopted by an individual or individuals who are not related to
the biological parents of the child or is the subject of a
pending adoption petition by an individual or individuals who
are not related to the biological parents of the child.
(3) (Blank).
(c) The court may modify an order granting or denying
visitation rights of a parent whenever modification would serve
the best interest of the child; but the court shall not
restrict a parent's visitation rights unless it finds that the
visitation would endanger seriously the child's physical,
mental, moral or emotional health.
(d) If any court has entered an order prohibiting a
non-custodial parent of a child from any contact with a child

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or restricting the non-custodial parent's contact with the
child, the following provisions shall apply:
(1) If an order has been entered granting visitation
privileges with the child to a grandparent or
great-grandparent who is related to the child through the
non-custodial parent, the visitation privileges of the
grandparent or great-grandparent may be revoked if:
(i) a court has entered an order prohibiting the
non-custodial parent from any contact with the child,
and the grandparent or great-grandparent is found to
have used his or her visitation privileges to
facilitate contact between the child and the
non-custodial parent; or
(ii) a court has entered an order restricting the
non-custodial parent's contact with the child, and the
grandparent or great-grandparent is found to have used
his or her visitation privileges to facilitate contact
between the child and the non-custodial parent in a
manner that violates the terms of the order restricting
the non-custodial parent's contact with the child.
Nothing in this subdivision (1) limits the authority of
the court to enforce its orders in any manner permitted by
law.
(2) Any order granting visitation privileges with the
child to a grandparent or great-grandparent who is related
to the child through the non-custodial parent shall contain

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the following provision:
"If the (grandparent or great-grandparent, whichever
is applicable) who has been granted visitation privileges
under this order uses the visitation privileges to
facilitate contact between the child and the child's
non-custodial parent, the visitation privileges granted
under this order shall be permanently revoked."
(e) No parent, not granted custody of the child, or
grandparent, or great-grandparent, or stepparent, or sibling
of any minor child, convicted of any offense involving an
illegal sex act perpetrated upon a victim less than 18 years of
age including but not limited to offenses for violations of
Article 12 of the Criminal Code of 1961, is entitled to
visitation rights while incarcerated or while on parole,
probation, conditional discharge, periodic imprisonment, or
mandatory supervised release for that offense, and upon
discharge from incarceration for a misdemeanor offense or upon
discharge from parole, probation, conditional discharge,
periodic imprisonment, or mandatory supervised release for a
felony offense, visitation shall be denied until the person
successfully completes a treatment program approved by the
court.
(f) Unless the court determines, after considering all
relevant factors, including but not limited to those set forth
in Section 602(a), that it would be in the best interests of
the child to allow visitation, the court shall not enter an

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order providing visitation rights and pursuant to a motion to
modify visitation shall revoke visitation rights previously
granted to any person who would otherwise be entitled to
petition for visitation rights under this Section who has been
convicted of first degree murder of the parent, grandparent,
great-grandparent, or sibling of the child who is the subject
of the order. Until an order is entered pursuant to this
subsection, no person shall visit, with the child present, a
person who has been convicted of first degree murder of the
parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling of the
child without the consent of the child's parent, other than a
parent convicted of first degree murder as set forth herein, or
legal guardian.
(g) (Blank).
(h) Upon motion, the Court may allow a parent who is
deployed or who has orders to be deployed as a member of the
United States Armed Forces to designate a person to exercise
reasonable, substitute visitation equivalent to the visitation
that the deployed parent presently has, if the court determines
that substitute visitation is in the best interests of the
child.
(Source: P.A. 96-331, eff. 1-1-10.)
(750 ILCS 5/610) (from Ch. 40, par. 610)
Sec. 610. Modification.
(a) Unless by stipulation of the parties or except as

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provided in subsection (a-5), no motion to modify a custody
judgment may be made earlier than 2 years after its date,
unless the court permits it to be made on the basis of
affidavits that there is reason to believe the child's present
environment may endanger seriously his physical, mental, moral
or emotional health.
(a-5) A motion to modify a custody judgment may be made at
any time by a party who has been informed of the existence of
facts requiring notice to be given under Section 609.5.
(b) The court shall not modify a prior custody judgment
unless it finds by clear and convincing evidence, upon the
basis of facts that have arisen since the prior judgment or
that were unknown to the court at the time of entry of the
prior judgment, that a change has occurred in the circumstances
of the child or his custodian, or in the case of a joint
custody arrangement that a change has occurred in the
circumstances of the child or either or both parties having
custody, and that the modification is necessary to serve the
best interest of the child. The existence of facts requiring
notice to be given under Section 609.5 of this Act shall be
considered a change in circumstance. In the case of joint
custody, if the parties agree to a termination of a joint
custody arrangement, the court shall so terminate the joint
custody and make any modification which is in the child's best
interest. The court shall state in its decision specific
findings of fact in support of its modification or termination

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of joint custody if either parent opposes the modification or
termination.
(c) Attorney fees and costs shall be assessed against a
party seeking modification if the court finds that the
modification action is vexatious and constitutes harassment.
(d) Notice under this Section shall be given as provided in
subsections (c) and (d) of Section 601.
(e) The court shall not modify a prior custody judgment
while a party is unavailable due to the party's deployment as a
member of the United States Armed Forces. A party's past,
current, or possible future absence or , relocation, or failure
to comply with the court's orders on custody, visitation, or
parenting time may not, by itself, be sufficient to justify a
modification of a prior order if the reason for the absence,
relocation, or failure to comply is the party's deployment as a
member of the United States Armed Forces.
(Source: P.A. 96-676, eff. 1-1-10.)