Full Text of HB0394 94th General Assembly
HB0394eng 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning visitation.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of | 5 |
| Marriage Act is amended by changing Section 607 as follows:
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| (750 ILCS 5/607) (from Ch. 40, par. 607)
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| Sec. 607. Visitation.
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| (a) A parent not granted custody of the child
is entitled | 9 |
| to reasonable visitation rights unless the court finds,
after a | 10 |
| hearing, that visitation would endanger seriously the child's
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| physical, mental, moral or emotional health. If the custodian's | 12 |
| street
address is not identified, pursuant to Section 708, the | 13 |
| court shall require
the parties to identify reasonable | 14 |
| alternative arrangements for visitation
by a non-custodial | 15 |
| parent, including but not limited to visitation of the
minor | 16 |
| child at the residence of another person or at a local public | 17 |
| or
private facility.
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| (a-3) Nothing in subsection (a-5) of this Section shall | 19 |
| apply to a child in whose interests a petition under Section | 20 |
| 2-13 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 is pending. | 21 |
| (a-5)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection | 22 |
| (a-5), any grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling of the | 23 |
| child may file a
petition for
visitation rights to a minor | 24 |
| child if there is an unreasonable denial of visitation by a | 25 |
| parent and at least one
of the
following conditions exists: | 26 |
| (A) one parent of the child is incompetent as a matter | 27 |
| of law or deceased or has been sentenced to a period of | 28 |
| imprisonment for more than 1 year; | 29 |
| (B) the child's mother and father are divorced or have | 30 |
| been legally separated from
each other during the 3 month | 31 |
| period prior to the filing of the petition and at least one | 32 |
| parent does not object to the grandparent, |
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| great-grandparent, or sibling of the child having | 2 |
| visitation with the child. The visitation of the | 3 |
| grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling of the child
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| must not diminish the visitation of the parent who is not | 5 |
| related to the grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling | 6 |
| of the child seeking visitation; | 7 |
| (C) the court, other than a Juvenile Court, has | 8 |
| terminated a parent-child relationship and the | 9 |
| grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling of the child is | 10 |
| the parent , grandparent, or child of the person whose | 11 |
| parental rights have been terminated, except in cases of | 12 |
| adoption. The visitation must not be used to allow the | 13 |
| parent who lost parental rights to unlawfully visit with | 14 |
| the child; | 15 |
| (D) the child is born out of wedlock
illegitimate , the | 16 |
| parents are not living together, and the petitioner is a | 17 |
| maternal grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling of the | 18 |
| born out of wedlock
illegitimate child; or | 19 |
| (E) the child is born out of wedlock
illegitimate , the | 20 |
| parents are not living together, the petitioner is a | 21 |
| paternal grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling, and | 22 |
| the paternity has been established by a court of competent | 23 |
| jurisdiction. | 24 |
| (2) The parent, grandparent,
great-grandparent, or child
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| sibling of a parent whose parental rights have been terminated | 26 |
| through an adoption proceeding may not petition for visitation | 27 |
| rights.
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| (3) In making a determination under this subsection (a-5), | 29 |
| there is a
rebuttable
presumption that a fit parent's actions | 30 |
| and decisions regarding grandparent,
great-grandparent, or | 31 |
| sibling visitation are not harmful to the child's mental, | 32 |
| physical, or emotional health. The
burden is on the
party | 33 |
| filing a petition under this Section to prove that the
parent's | 34 |
| actions and
decisions regarding visitation times are harmful to | 35 |
| the child's mental, physical, or emotional health. | 36 |
| (4) In determining whether to grant visitation, the court |
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| shall consider the following:
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| (A) the preference of the child if the child is | 3 |
| determined to be of sufficient maturity to express a | 4 |
| preference; | 5 |
| (B) the mental and physical health of the child; | 6 |
| (C) the mental and physical health of the grandparent, | 7 |
| great-grandparent, or sibling; | 8 |
| (D) the length and quality of the prior relationship | 9 |
| between the child and the grandparent, great-grandparent, | 10 |
| or sibling;
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| (E) the good faith of the party in filing the petition;
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| (F) the good faith of the person denying visitation; | 13 |
| (G) the quantity of the visitation time requested and | 14 |
| the potential adverse impact that visitation would have on | 15 |
| the child's customary activities; | 16 |
| (H) whether the child resided with the petitioner for | 17 |
| at least 6 consecutive months with or without the current | 18 |
| custodian present; | 19 |
| (I) whether the petitioner had frequent or regular | 20 |
| contact with the child for at least 12 consecutive months; | 21 |
| and
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| (J) any other fact that establishes that the loss of | 23 |
| the relationship between the petitioner and the child is | 24 |
| likely to harm the child's mental, physical, or emotional | 25 |
| health. | 26 |
| (5) The court may order visitation rights for the | 27 |
| grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling that include | 28 |
| reasonable access without requiring overnight or possessory | 29 |
| visitation.
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| (a-7)(1) Unless by stipulation of the parties, no motion to | 31 |
| modify a grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling visitation | 32 |
| order may be made earlier than 2 years after the date the order | 33 |
| was filed, unless the court permits it to be made on the basis | 34 |
| of affidavits that there is reason to believe the child's | 35 |
| present environment may endanger seriously the child's mental, | 36 |
| physical, or emotional health. |
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| (2) The court shall not modify a prior grandparent, | 2 |
| great-grandparent, or sibling visitation order unless it finds | 3 |
| by clear and convincing evidence, upon the basis of facts that | 4 |
| have arisen since the prior visitation order or that were | 5 |
| unknown to the court at the time of entry of the prior | 6 |
| visitation, that a change has occurred in the circumstances of | 7 |
| the child or his or her custodian, and that the modification is | 8 |
| necessary to protect the mental, physical, or emotional health | 9 |
| of the child. The court shall state in its decision specific | 10 |
| findings of fact in support of its modification or termination | 11 |
| of the grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling visitation. | 12 |
| (3) Attorney fees and costs shall be assessed against a | 13 |
| party seeking modification of the visitation order if the court | 14 |
| finds that the modification action is vexatious and constitutes | 15 |
| harassment. | 16 |
| (4) Notice under this subsection (a-7) shall be given as | 17 |
| provided in subsections (c) and (d) of Section 601.
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| (b) (1) (Blank.)
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| (1.5) The Court may grant reasonable visitation privileges | 20 |
| to a stepparent
upon petition to the court by the stepparent, | 21 |
| with notice to the parties
required to be notified under | 22 |
| Section 601 of this Act, if the court determines
that it is in | 23 |
| the best interests and welfare of the child, and may issue any
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| necessary orders to enforce those visitation privileges.
A | 25 |
| petition for visitation privileges may be filed under this | 26 |
| paragraph (1.5)
whether or not a petition pursuant to this Act | 27 |
| has been previously filed or is
currently pending if the | 28 |
| following
circumstances are met:
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| (A) the child is at least 12 years old;
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| (B) the child resided continuously with the parent and | 31 |
| stepparent for at
least 5 years;
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| (C) the parent is deceased or is disabled and is unable | 33 |
| to care for the
child;
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| (D) the child wishes to have reasonable visitation with | 35 |
| the stepparent;
and
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| (E) the stepparent was providing for the care, control, |
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| and welfare to the
child prior to the initiation of the | 2 |
| petition for visitation.
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| (2)(A) A petition for visitation privileges shall not be | 4 |
| filed pursuant
to this subsection (b) by the parents or | 5 |
| grandparents of a putative father
if the paternity of the | 6 |
| putative father has not been legally established.
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| (B) A petition for visitation privileges may not be filed | 8 |
| under
this subsection (b) if the child who is the subject of | 9 |
| the
grandparents' or great-grandparents' petition has been | 10 |
| voluntarily
surrendered by the parent or parents, except for a | 11 |
| surrender to the
Illinois Department of Children and Family | 12 |
| Services or a foster care
facility, or has been previously | 13 |
| adopted by an individual or individuals
who are not related to | 14 |
| the biological parents of the child or is the
subject of a | 15 |
| pending adoption petition by an individual or individuals who
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| are not related to the biological parents of the child.
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| (3) (Blank).
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| (c) The court may modify an order granting or denying | 19 |
| visitation
rights of a parent whenever modification would serve | 20 |
| the best interest of
the child;
but the court shall not | 21 |
| restrict a parent's visitation rights unless it
finds that the | 22 |
| visitation would endanger seriously the child's physical,
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| mental, moral or emotional health.
The court may modify an | 24 |
| order granting, denying, or limiting visitation
rights of a | 25 |
| grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling of any minor child
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| whenever a change of circumstances has occurred based on facts | 27 |
| occurring
subsequent to the judgment and the court finds by | 28 |
| clear and convincing evidence
that the modification is in the | 29 |
| best interest of the minor child.
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| (d) If any court has entered an order prohibiting a | 31 |
| 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 | 33 |
| child, the
following provisions shall apply:
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| (1) If an order has been entered granting visitation | 35 |
| privileges with the
child to a grandparent or | 36 |
| great-grandparent who is related to the child through
the |
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| non-custodial parent, the visitation privileges of the | 2 |
| grandparent or
great-grandparent may be revoked if:
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| (i) a court has entered an order prohibiting the | 4 |
| non-custodial parent
from any contact with the child, | 5 |
| and the grandparent or great-grandparent is
found to | 6 |
| have used his or her visitation privileges to | 7 |
| facilitate contact
between the child and the | 8 |
| non-custodial parent; or
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| (ii) a court has entered an order restricting the | 10 |
| non-custodial parent's
contact with the child, and the | 11 |
| grandparent or great-grandparent is found to
have used | 12 |
| his or her visitation privileges to facilitate contact
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| between the child and the non-custodial parent in a | 14 |
| manner that violates the
terms of the order restricting | 15 |
| the non-custodial parent's contact with the
child.
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| Nothing in this subdivision (1) limits the authority of | 17 |
| the court to
enforce its orders in any manner permitted by | 18 |
| law.
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| (2) Any order granting visitation privileges with the | 20 |
| child to a
grandparent or great-grandparent who is related | 21 |
| to the child through the
non-custodial parent shall contain | 22 |
| the following provision:
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| "If the (grandparent or great-grandparent, whichever | 24 |
| is applicable) who has
been granted visitation privileges | 25 |
| under this order uses the visitation
privileges to | 26 |
| facilitate contact between the child and the child's
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| non-custodial parent, the visitation privileges granted | 28 |
| under this order shall
be permanently revoked."
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| (e) No parent, not granted custody of the child, or | 30 |
| grandparent, or
great-grandparent, or stepparent, or sibling | 31 |
| of any minor child, convicted
of any offense
involving an | 32 |
| illegal sex act perpetrated upon a victim less than 18 years of
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| age including but not limited to offenses for violations of | 34 |
| Article 12 of the
Criminal Code of 1961, is entitled to | 35 |
| visitation rights while incarcerated
or while on parole, | 36 |
| probation, conditional discharge, periodic
imprisonment, or
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| mandatory supervised release for that offense, and upon | 2 |
| discharge from
incarceration for a misdemeanor offense or upon | 3 |
| discharge from parole,
probation, conditional discharge, | 4 |
| periodic imprisonment,
or mandatory supervised release for a | 5 |
| felony offense, visitation shall be
denied until the person | 6 |
| successfully completes a treatment program approved
by the | 7 |
| court.
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| (f) Unless the court determines, after considering all | 9 |
| relevant factors,
including but not limited to those set forth | 10 |
| in Section 602(a), that it would
be in the best interests of | 11 |
| the child to allow visitation, the court shall not
enter an | 12 |
| order providing visitation rights and pursuant to a motion to | 13 |
| modify
visitation shall revoke visitation rights previously | 14 |
| granted to any
person who would otherwise be entitled to | 15 |
| petition for visitation rights under
this Section who has been | 16 |
| convicted of first degree murder of the parent,
grandparent, | 17 |
| great-grandparent, or sibling of the child who is the subject | 18 |
| of
the order. Until an order is entered pursuant to this | 19 |
| subsection, no person
shall visit, with
the child present, a | 20 |
| person who has been convicted of first degree murder of
the | 21 |
| parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling of the | 22 |
| child
without the consent of the child's parent, other than a | 23 |
| parent convicted of
first degree murder as set forth herein, or | 24 |
| legal
guardian.
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| (g) (Blank).
If an order has been entered limiting, for | 26 |
| cause, a minor child's
contact or
visitation with a | 27 |
| grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling on the grounds
that | 28 |
| it was in the best interest of the child to do so, that order | 29 |
| may be
modified only upon a showing of a substantial change in | 30 |
| circumstances occurring
subsequent to the entry of the order | 31 |
| with proof by clear and convincing
evidence that modification | 32 |
| is in the best interest of the minor child.
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| (Source: P.A. 93-911, eff. 1-1-05.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 35 |
| becoming law.
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