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violence by the child's
potential custodian, whether |
directed against the child or directed against
another |
person;
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(7) the occurrence of ongoing or repeated abuse as |
defined in Section 103 of the
Illinois Domestic Violence |
Act of 1986, whether directed against the child
or directed |
against another person;
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(8) the willingness and ability of each parent to |
facilitate and
encourage a close and continuing |
relationship between the other parent
and the child; and
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(9) whether one of the parents is a sex offender; and .
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(10) the terms of a parent's military family-care plan |
that a parent must complete before deployment if a parent |
is a member of the United States Armed Forces who is being |
deployed. |
In the case of a custody proceeding in which a stepparent |
has standing
under Section 601, it is presumed to be in the |
best interest of the minor child
that the natural parent have |
the custody of the minor child unless the
presumption is |
rebutted by the stepparent.
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(b) The court shall not consider conduct of a present or |
proposed
custodian that does not affect his relationship to the |
child.
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(c) Unless the court finds the occurrence of ongoing abuse |
as defined
in Section 103 of the Illinois Domestic Violence Act |
of 1986, the court
shall presume that the maximum involvement |
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and cooperation
of both parents regarding the physical, mental, |
moral, and emotional
well-being of
their child is in the best |
interest of the child. There shall be no
presumption in favor |
of or against joint custody.
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(Source: P.A. 94-377, eff. 7-29-05; 94-643, eff. 1-1-06; |
95-331, eff. 8-21-07.)
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(750 ILCS 5/610) (from Ch. 40, par. 610)
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Sec. 610. Modification.
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(a) Unless by stipulation of the parties or except as |
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.
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(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.
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(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 |
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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 |
of joint custody if either parent opposes the
modification or |
termination.
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(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.
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(d) Notice under this Section shall be given as provided in
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subsections (c) and (d) of Section 601.
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(e) A party's absence, 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. 94-643, eff. 1-1-06.)
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