Full Text of HB1555 103rd General Assembly
HB1555enr 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning civil law.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of | 5 | | Marriage Act is amended by changing Section 506 as follows:
| 6 | | (750 ILCS 5/506) (from Ch. 40, par. 506)
| 7 | | Sec. 506. Representation of child.
| 8 | | (a) Duties. In any proceedings involving the support, | 9 | | custody,
visitation, allocation of parental responsibilities, | 10 | | education, parentage, property interest, or general welfare of | 11 | | a
minor or dependent child, the court may, on its own motion or | 12 | | that of any
party, appoint
an attorney to serve in one of the | 13 | | following capacities to address the issues the court | 14 | | delineates:
| 15 | | (1) Attorney. The attorney shall provide independent | 16 | | legal counsel for the child and shall owe the same duties | 17 | | of undivided loyalty, confidentiality, and competent | 18 | | representation as are due an adult client.
| 19 | | (2) Guardian ad litem. The guardian ad litem shall | 20 | | investigate the facts of the case and interview the child | 21 | | and the parties. Unless the court directs otherwise, the | 22 | | guardian ad litem shall submit to the court and the | 23 | | parties a written report, written recommendations, or a |
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| 1 | | proposed parenting plan, in accordance with the child's | 2 | | best interests, not less than 30 days before a final | 3 | | hearing or trial. The guardian ad litem's written report | 4 | | or written recommendations shall be admitted into evidence | 5 | | without the need for foundation. The guardian ad litem | 6 | | shall be available for deposition before a final hearing | 7 | | or trial notwithstanding any other discovery cutoff. The | 8 | | guardian ad litem shall testify or submit a written report | 9 | | to the court regarding his or her recommendations in | 10 | | accordance with the best interest of the child. The report | 11 | | shall be made available to all parties. The guardian ad | 12 | | litem may be called as a witness for purposes of | 13 | | cross-examination regarding the guardian ad litem's report | 14 | | or recommendations. At the discretion of the court, the | 15 | | guardian ad litem: | 16 | | (i) may be present for all proceedings, including | 17 | | in camera examinations of the child; | 18 | | (ii) may issue subpoenas for records as part of | 19 | | the guardian ad litem's investigation; and | 20 | | (iii) may file pleadings relating to procedural | 21 | | matters. The guardian ad litem shall investigate the | 22 | | facts of the case and interview the child and the | 23 | | parties.
| 24 | | (3) Child representative. The child representative | 25 | | shall advocate what the
child representative finds to be | 26 | | in the best interests of the child after reviewing
the |
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| 1 | | facts and circumstances of the case. The child | 2 | | representative shall meet with the child and the parties, | 3 | | investigate the facts of the case, and encourage | 4 | | settlement and the use of alternative forms of dispute | 5 | | resolution. The child representative shall have
the same | 6 | | authority and obligation to participate in the litigation | 7 | | as
does an attorney for a party and shall possess all the | 8 | | powers of investigation
as does a guardian ad litem. The | 9 | | child representative
shall consider, but not be bound by, | 10 | | the expressed wishes of the child. A
child representative | 11 | | shall have received training in child advocacy or shall
| 12 | | possess such experience as determined to be equivalent to | 13 | | such training by the
chief judge of the circuit where the | 14 | | child representative has been appointed.
The
child | 15 | | representative shall not disclose confidential | 16 | | communications made
by the child, except as required by | 17 | | law or by the Rules of Professional
Conduct. The child | 18 | | representative shall not render an opinion, | 19 | | recommendation, or report to the court and shall not be | 20 | | called as a witness, but shall offer evidence-based legal | 21 | | arguments. The child representative shall disclose the | 22 | | position as to what the child representative intends to | 23 | | advocate in a pre-trial memorandum that shall be served | 24 | | upon all counsel of record prior to the trial. The | 25 | | position disclosed in the pre-trial memorandum shall not | 26 | | be considered evidence. The court and the parties may |
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| 1 | | consider the position of the child representative for | 2 | | purposes of a settlement conference.
| 3 | | (a-3) Additional appointments. During the proceedings the | 4 | | court may appoint an additional attorney to
serve in the | 5 | | capacity described in subdivision (a)(1) or an additional | 6 | | attorney to serve in another of the capacities described in | 7 | | subdivision (a)(2) or
(a)(3) on
the court's own motion or that | 8 | | of a party only for good cause shown and when the
reasons for | 9 | | the additional appointment are set forth in specific findings.
| 10 | | (a-5) Appointment considerations. In deciding whether to | 11 | | make an appointment of an attorney for the minor child, a | 12 | | guardian ad litem, or a child representative, the court shall | 13 | | consider the nature and adequacy of the evidence to be | 14 | | presented by the parties and the availability of other methods | 15 | | of obtaining information, including social service | 16 | | organizations and evaluations by mental health professions, as | 17 | | well as resources for payment.
| 18 | | In no event is this Section intended to or designed to | 19 | | abrogate the decision making power of the trier of fact. Any | 20 | | appointment made under this Section is not intended to nor | 21 | | should it serve to place any appointed individual in the role | 22 | | of a surrogate judge.
| 23 | | (b) Fees and costs. The court shall enter an order as | 24 | | appropriate for
costs, fees, and disbursements, including a | 25 | | retainer, when the attorney,
guardian ad litem, or child's | 26 | | representative is appointed. Any person appointed under this |
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| 1 | | Section shall file with the court within 90 days of his or her | 2 | | appointment, and every subsequent 90-day period thereafter | 3 | | during the course of his or her representation, a detailed | 4 | | invoice for services rendered with a copy being sent to each | 5 | | party. The court shall review the invoice submitted and | 6 | | approve the fees, if they are reasonable and necessary. Any | 7 | | order approving the fees shall require payment by either or | 8 | | both parents, by any
other party or source, or from the marital | 9 | | estate or the child's separate
estate.
The court may not order | 10 | | payment by the Department of Healthcare and Family Services
in | 11 | | cases in which the Department is providing child support
| 12 | | enforcement services
under Article X of the Illinois Public | 13 | | Aid Code. Unless otherwise ordered by
the
court at the time | 14 | | fees and costs are
approved, all fees and costs payable to an | 15 | | attorney, guardian ad litem, or
child representative under | 16 | | this Section are by implication deemed to be in
the nature of | 17 | | support of the child and are within the exceptions to | 18 | | discharge
in bankruptcy under 11 U.S.C.A. 523. The provisions | 19 | | of Sections 501 and 508 of
this Act shall apply to fees and | 20 | | costs for attorneys appointed under this
Section.
| 21 | | (Source: P.A. 99-90, eff. 1-1-16 .)
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