HB4124eng 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB4124 Engrossed LRB098 15680 RPS 50711 b

AN ACT concerning civil law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. If and only if House Bill 1452 of the 98th General Assembly becomes law, the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act is amended by changing Section 102 as follows:

(750 ILCS 5/102) (from Ch. 40, par. 102)

Sec. 102. Purposes; Rules of Construction. This Act shall be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes, which are to:

(1) provide adequate procedures for the solemnization and registration of marriage;

(2) strengthen and preserve the integrity of marriage and safeguard family relationships;

(3) promote the amicable settlement of disputes that have arisen between parties to a marriage;

(4) mitigate the potential harm to spouses and their children caused by the process of an action brought under this Act, and protect children from exposure to conflict and violence;

(5) ensure predictable decision-making for the care of children and for the allocation of parenting time and other parental responsibilities, and avoid prolonged uncertainty by expeditiously resolving issues involving children;

(6) recognize the right of children to a healthy relationship with parents, and the responsibility of parents to ensure such a relationship;

(7) acknowledge that the determination of children's best interests, and the allocation of parenting time and significant decision-making responsibilities, are among the paramount responsibilities of our system of justice, and to that end:

(A) recognize children's right to a strong and healthy relationship with parents, and parents' concomitant right and responsibility to create and maintain such relationships;

(B) recognize that, in the absence of domestic violence or any other factor that the court expressly finds to be relevant, proximity to, and frequent contact with, both parents promotes healthy development of children;

(C) facilitate parental planning and agreement about the children's upbringing and allocation of parenting time and other parental responsibilities;

(D) continue existing parent-child relationships, and secure the maximum involvement and cooperation of parents regarding the physical, mental, moral, and emotional well-being of the children during and after the litigation; and

(D-5) recognize that, in order to maximize the opportunity for each child to maintain and strengthen the child's relationship with each parent, the child's best interests may be served with a minimum amount of residential parenting time for each parent of not less than 35% of available residential parenting time; the minimum percentage of parenting time shall not, in and of itself, constitute a reason for deviation from the child support guidelines; and

(E) promote or order parents to participate in programs designed to educate parents to:

(i) minimize or eliminate rancor and the detrimental effect of litigation in any proceeding involving children; and

(ii) facilitate the maximum cooperation of parents in raising their children;

(8) make reasonable provision for support during and after an underlying dissolution of marriage, parentage, or parental responsibility allocation action, including provision for timely advances of interim fees and costs to all attorneys, experts, and opinion witnesses including guardians ad litem and children's representatives, to achieve substantial parity in parties' access to funds for pre-judgment litigation costs in an action for dissolution of marriage;

(9) eliminate the consideration of marital misconduct in the adjudication of rights and duties incident to dissolution of marriage, legal separation and declaration of invalidity of marriage; and

(10) make provision for the preservation and conservation of marital assets during the litigation.

(Source: P.A. 89-712, eff. 6-1-97; LRB09802948HEP58277a.)