97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2011 and 2012
HB0984

 

Introduced 01/31/11, by Rep. Michael J. Madigan

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
750 ILCS 5/607  from Ch. 40, par. 607

    Amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning visitation.


LRB097 03804 AJO 43841 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of
5Marriage Act is amended by changing Section 607 as follows:
 
6    (750 ILCS 5/607)  (from Ch. 40, par. 607)
7    Sec. 607. Visitation.
8    (a) A parent not granted custody of the the child is
9entitled to reasonable visitation rights unless the court
10finds, after a hearing, that visitation would endanger
11seriously the child's physical, mental, moral or emotional
12health. If the custodian's street address is not identified,
13pursuant to Section 708, the court shall require the parties to
14identify reasonable alternative arrangements for visitation by
15a non-custodial parent, including but not limited to visitation
16of the minor child at the residence of another person or at a
17local public or private facility.
18        (1) "Visitation" means in-person time spent between a
19    child and the child's parent. In appropriate
20    circumstances, it may include electronic communication
21    under conditions and at times determined by the court.
22        (2) "Electronic communication" means time that a
23    parent spends with his or her child during which the child

 

 

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1    is not in the parent's actual physical custody, but which
2    is facilitated by the use of communication tools such as
3    the telephone, electronic mail, instant messaging, video
4    conferencing or other wired or wireless technologies via
5    the Internet, or another medium of communication.
6    (a-3) Grandparents, great-grandparents, and siblings of a
7minor child, who is one year old or older, have standing to
8bring an action in circuit court by petition, requesting
9visitation in accordance with this Section. The term "sibling"
10in this Section means a brother, sister, stepbrother, or
11stepsister of the minor child. Grandparents,
12great-grandparents, and siblings also have standing to file a
13petition for visitation and any electronic communication
14rights in a pending dissolution proceeding or any other
15proceeding that involves custody or visitation issues,
16requesting visitation in accordance with this Section. A
17petition for visitation with a child by a person other than a
18parent must be filed in the county in which the child resides.
19Nothing in this subsection (a-3) and subsection (a-5) of this
20Section shall apply to a child in whose interests a petition is
21pending under Section 2-13 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 or
22a petition to adopt an unrelated child is pending under the
23Adoption Act.
24    (a-5)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection
25(a-5), any grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling may file
26a petition for visitation rights to a minor child if there is

 

 

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1an unreasonable denial of visitation by a parent and at least
2one of the following conditions exists:
3        (A) (Blank);
4        (A-5) the child's other parent is deceased or has been
5    missing for at least 3 months. For the purposes of this
6    Section a parent is considered to be missing if the
7    parent's location has not been determined and the parent
8    has been reported as missing to a law enforcement agency;
9        (A-10) a parent of the child is incompetent as a matter
10    of law;
11        (A-15) a parent has been incarcerated in jail or prison
12    during the 3 month period preceding the filing of the
13    petition;
14        (B) the child's mother and father are divorced or have
15    been legally separated from each other or there is pending
16    a dissolution proceeding involving a parent of the child or
17    another court proceeding involving custody or visitation
18    of the child (other than any adoption proceeding of an
19    unrelated child) and at least one parent does not object to
20    the grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling having
21    visitation with the child. The visitation of the
22    grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling must not
23    diminish the visitation of the parent who is not related to
24    the grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling seeking
25    visitation;
26        (C) (Blank);

 

 

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1        (D) the child is born out of wedlock, the parents are
2    not living together, and the petitioner is a maternal
3    grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling of the child
4    born out of wedlock; or
5        (E) the child is born out of wedlock, the parents are
6    not living together, the petitioner is a paternal
7    grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling, and the
8    paternity has been established by a court of competent
9    jurisdiction.
10    (2) Any visitation rights granted pursuant to this Section
11before the filing of a petition for adoption of a child shall
12automatically terminate by operation of law upon the entry of
13an order terminating parental rights or granting the adoption
14of the child, whichever is earlier. If the person or persons
15who adopted the child are related to the child, as defined by
16Section 1 of the Adoption Act, any person who was related to
17the child as grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling prior
18to the adoption shall have standing to bring an action pursuant
19to this Section requesting visitation with the child.
20    (3) In making a determination under this subsection (a-5),
21there is a rebuttable presumption that a fit parent's actions
22and decisions regarding grandparent, great-grandparent, or
23sibling visitation are not harmful to the child's mental,
24physical, or emotional health. The burden is on the party
25filing a petition under this Section to prove that the parent's
26actions and decisions regarding visitation times are harmful to

 

 

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1the child's mental, physical, or emotional health.
2    (4) In determining whether to grant visitation, the court
3shall consider the following:
4        (A) the preference of the child if the child is
5    determined to be of sufficient maturity to express a
6    preference;
7        (B) the mental and physical health of the child;
8        (C) the mental and physical health of the grandparent,
9    great-grandparent, or sibling;
10        (D) the length and quality of the prior relationship
11    between the child and the grandparent, great-grandparent,
12    or sibling;
13        (E) the good faith of the party in filing the petition;
14        (F) the good faith of the person denying visitation;
15        (G) the quantity of the visitation time requested and
16    the potential adverse impact that visitation would have on
17    the child's customary activities;
18        (H) whether the child resided with the petitioner for
19    at least 6 consecutive months with or without the current
20    custodian present;
21        (I) whether the petitioner had frequent or regular
22    contact or visitation with the child for at least 12
23    consecutive months;
24        (J) any other fact that establishes that the loss of
25    the relationship between the petitioner and the child is
26    likely to harm the child's mental, physical, or emotional

 

 

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1    health; and
2        (K) whether the grandparent, great-grandparent, or
3    sibling was a primary caretaker of the child for a period
4    of not less than 6 consecutive months.
5    (5) The court may order visitation rights for the
6grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling that include
7reasonable access without requiring overnight or possessory
8visitation.
9    (a-7)(1) Unless by stipulation of the parties, no motion to
10modify a grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling visitation
11order may be made earlier than 2 years after the date the order
12was filed, unless the court permits it to be made on the basis
13of affidavits that there is reason to believe the child's
14present environment may endanger seriously the child's mental,
15physical, or emotional health.
16    (2) The court shall not modify an order that grants
17visitation to a grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling
18unless it finds by clear and convincing evidence, upon the
19basis of facts that have arisen since the prior visitation
20order or that were unknown to the court at the time of entry of
21the prior visitation, that a change has occurred in the
22circumstances of the child or his or her custodian, and that
23the modification is necessary to protect the mental, physical,
24or emotional health of the child. The court shall state in its
25decision specific findings of fact in support of its
26modification or termination of the grandparent,

 

 

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1great-grandparent, or sibling visitation. A child's parent may
2always petition to modify visitation upon changed
3circumstances when necessary to promote the child's best
4interest.
5    (3) Attorney fees and costs shall be assessed against a
6party seeking modification of the visitation order if the court
7finds that the modification action is vexatious and constitutes
8harassment.
9    (4) Notice under this subsection (a-7) shall be given as
10provided in subsections (c) and (d) of Section 601.
11    (b) (1) (Blank.)
12    (1.5) The Court may grant reasonable visitation privileges
13to a stepparent upon petition to the court by the stepparent,
14with notice to the parties required to be notified under
15Section 601 of this Act, if the court determines that it is in
16the best interests and welfare of the child, and may issue any
17necessary orders to enforce those visitation privileges. A
18petition for visitation privileges may be filed under this
19paragraph (1.5) whether or not a petition pursuant to this Act
20has been previously filed or is currently pending if the
21following circumstances are met:
22        (A) the child is at least 12 years old;
23        (B) the child resided continuously with the parent and
24    stepparent for at least 5 years;
25        (C) the parent is deceased or is disabled and is unable
26    to care for the child;

 

 

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1        (D) the child wishes to have reasonable visitation with
2    the stepparent; and
3        (E) the stepparent was providing for the care, control,
4    and welfare to the child prior to the initiation of the
5    petition for visitation.
6    (2)(A) A petition for visitation privileges shall not be
7filed pursuant to this subsection (b) by the parents or
8grandparents of a putative father if the paternity of the
9putative father has not been legally established.
10    (B) A petition for visitation privileges may not be filed
11under this subsection (b) if the child who is the subject of
12the grandparents' or great-grandparents' petition has been
13voluntarily surrendered by the parent or parents, except for a
14surrender to the Illinois Department of Children and Family
15Services or a foster care facility, or has been previously
16adopted by an individual or individuals who are not related to
17the biological parents of the child or is the subject of a
18pending adoption petition by an individual or individuals who
19are not related to the biological parents of the child.
20    (3) (Blank).
21    (c) The court may modify an order granting or denying
22visitation rights of a parent whenever modification would serve
23the best interest of the child; but the court shall not
24restrict a parent's visitation rights unless it finds that the
25visitation would endanger seriously the child's physical,
26mental, moral or emotional health.

 

 

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1    (d) If any court has entered an order prohibiting a
2non-custodial parent of a child from any contact with a child
3or restricting the non-custodial parent's contact with the
4child, the following provisions shall apply:
5        (1) If an order has been entered granting visitation
6    privileges with the child to a grandparent or
7    great-grandparent who is related to the child through the
8    non-custodial parent, the visitation privileges of the
9    grandparent or great-grandparent may be revoked if:
10            (i) a court has entered an order prohibiting the
11        non-custodial parent from any contact with the child,
12        and the grandparent or great-grandparent is found to
13        have used his or her visitation privileges to
14        facilitate contact between the child and the
15        non-custodial parent; or
16            (ii) a court has entered an order restricting the
17        non-custodial parent's contact with the child, and the
18        grandparent or great-grandparent is found to have used
19        his or her visitation privileges to facilitate contact
20        between the child and the non-custodial parent in a
21        manner that violates the terms of the order restricting
22        the non-custodial parent's contact with the child.
23        Nothing in this subdivision (1) limits the authority of
24    the court to enforce its orders in any manner permitted by
25    law.
26        (2) Any order granting visitation privileges with the

 

 

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1    child to a grandparent or great-grandparent who is related
2    to the child through the non-custodial parent shall contain
3    the following provision:
4        "If the (grandparent or great-grandparent, whichever
5    is applicable) who has been granted visitation privileges
6    under this order uses the visitation privileges to
7    facilitate contact between the child and the child's
8    non-custodial parent, the visitation privileges granted
9    under this order shall be permanently revoked."
10    (e) No parent, not granted custody of the child, or
11grandparent, or great-grandparent, or stepparent, or sibling
12of any minor child, convicted of any offense involving an
13illegal sex act perpetrated upon a victim less than 18 years of
14age including but not limited to offenses for violations of
15Article 12 of the Criminal Code of 1961, is entitled to
16visitation rights while incarcerated or while on parole,
17probation, conditional discharge, periodic imprisonment, or
18mandatory supervised release for that offense, and upon
19discharge from incarceration for a misdemeanor offense or upon
20discharge from parole, probation, conditional discharge,
21periodic imprisonment, or mandatory supervised release for a
22felony offense, visitation shall be denied until the person
23successfully completes a treatment program approved by the
24court.
25    (f) Unless the court determines, after considering all
26relevant factors, including but not limited to those set forth

 

 

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1in Section 602(a), that it would be in the best interests of
2the child to allow visitation, the court shall not enter an
3order providing visitation rights and pursuant to a motion to
4modify visitation shall revoke visitation rights previously
5granted to any person who would otherwise be entitled to
6petition for visitation rights under this Section who has been
7convicted of first degree murder of the parent, grandparent,
8great-grandparent, or sibling of the child who is the subject
9of the order. Until an order is entered pursuant to this
10subsection, no person shall visit, with the child present, a
11person who has been convicted of first degree murder of the
12parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling of the
13child without the consent of the child's parent, other than a
14parent convicted of first degree murder as set forth herein, or
15legal guardian.
16    (g) (Blank).
17(Source: P.A. 96-331, eff. 1-1-10.)