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Public Act 094-1026
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| HB4357 Enrolled |
LRB094 15974 AJO 51205 b |
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AN ACT concerning civil law.
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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 |
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 |
to reasonable visitation rights unless the court finds,
after a |
hearing, that visitation would endanger seriously the child's
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physical, mental, moral or emotional health. If the custodian's |
street
address is not identified, pursuant to Section 708, the |
court shall require
the parties to identify reasonable |
alternative arrangements for visitation
by a non-custodial |
parent, including but not limited to visitation of the
minor |
child at the residence of another person or at a local public |
or
private facility.
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(a-3) Grandparents, great-grandparents, and siblings of a |
minor child, who is one year old or older, have standing to |
bring an action in circuit court by petition, requesting |
visitation in accordance with this Section. The term "sibling" |
in this Section means a brother, sister, stepbrother, or |
stepsister of the minor child. Grandparents, |
great-grandparents, and siblings also have standing to file a |
petition for visitation rights in a pending dissolution |
proceeding or any other proceeding that involves custody or |
visitation issues, requesting visitation in accordance with |
this Section. A petition for visitation with a child by a |
person other than a parent must be filed in the county in which |
the child resides. Nothing in this subsection (a-3) and |
subsection (a-5) of this Section shall apply to a child in |
whose interests a petition is pending under Section 2-13 of the |
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Juvenile Court Act of 1987 or a petition to adopt an unrelated |
child is pending under the Adoption Act. |
(a-5)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection |
(a-5), any grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling may file |
a
petition for
visitation rights to a minor child if there is |
an unreasonable denial of visitation by a parent and at least |
one
of the
following conditions exists: |
(A) (Blank);
one parent of the child is incompetent as |
a matter of law or deceased or has been sentenced to a |
period of imprisonment for more than 1 year; |
(A-5) the child's other parent is deceased or has been |
missing for at least 3 months. For the purposes of this |
Section a parent is considered to be missing if the |
parent's location has not been determined and the parent |
has been reported as missing to a law enforcement agency;
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(A-10) a parent of the child is incompetent as a matter |
of law;
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(A-15) a parent has been incarcerated in jail or prison |
during the 3 month period preceding the filing of the |
petition;
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(B) the child's mother and father are divorced or have |
been legally separated from
each other or there is pending |
a dissolution proceeding involving a parent of the child or |
another court proceeding involving custody or visitation |
of the child (other than any adoption proceeding of an |
unrelated child)
during the 3 month period prior to the |
filing of the petition and at least one parent does not |
object to the grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling |
having visitation with the child. The visitation of the |
grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling must not |
diminish the visitation of the parent who is not related to |
the grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling seeking |
visitation; |
(C) (Blank);
the court, other than a Juvenile Court, |
has terminated a parent-child relationship and the |
grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling is the parent |
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of the person whose parental rights have been terminated, |
except in cases of adoption. The visitation must not be |
used to allow the parent who lost parental rights to |
unlawfully visit with the child; |
(D) the child is born out of wedlock, the parents are |
not living together, and the petitioner is a maternal |
grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling of the child |
born out of wedlock; or |
(E) the child is born out of wedlock, the parents are |
not living together, the petitioner is a paternal |
grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling, and the |
paternity has been established by a court of competent |
jurisdiction. |
(2) Any visitation rights granted pursuant to this Section |
before the filing of a petition for adoption of a child shall |
automatically terminate by operation of law upon the entry of |
an order terminating parental rights or granting the adoption |
of the child, whichever is earlier. If the person or persons |
who adopted the child are related to the child, as defined by |
Section 1 of the Adoption Act, any person who was related to |
the child as grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling prior |
to the adoption shall have standing to bring an action pursuant |
to this Section requesting visitation with the child.
The |
grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling of a parent whose |
parental rights have been terminated through an adoption |
proceeding may not petition for visitation rights.
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(3) In making a determination under this subsection (a-5), |
there is a
rebuttable
presumption that a fit parent's actions |
and decisions regarding grandparent,
great-grandparent, or |
sibling visitation are not harmful to the child's mental, |
physical, or emotional health. The
burden is on the
party |
filing a petition under this Section to prove that the
parent's |
actions and
decisions regarding visitation times are harmful to |
the child's mental, physical, or emotional health. |
(4) In determining whether to grant visitation, the court |
shall consider the following:
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(A) the preference of the child if the child is |
determined to be of sufficient maturity to express a |
preference; |
(B) the mental and physical health of the child; |
(C) the mental and physical health of the grandparent, |
great-grandparent, or sibling; |
(D) the length and quality of the prior relationship |
between the child and the grandparent, great-grandparent, |
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; |
(G) the quantity of the visitation time requested and |
the potential adverse impact that visitation would have on |
the child's customary activities; |
(H) whether the child resided with the petitioner for |
at least
6 consecutive months with or without the current |
custodian present; |
(I) whether the petitioner had frequent or regular |
contact or visitation with the child for at least 12 |
consecutive months; and
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(J) any other fact that establishes that the loss of |
the relationship between the petitioner and the child is |
likely to harm the child's mental, physical, or emotional |
health; and . |
(K) whether the grandparent, great-grandparent, or |
sibling was a primary caretaker of the child for a period |
of not less than 6 consecutive months.
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(5) The court may order visitation rights for the |
grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling that include |
reasonable access without requiring overnight or possessory |
visitation.
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(a-7)(1) Unless by stipulation of the parties, no motion to |
modify a grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling visitation |
order may be made earlier than 2 years after the date the order |
was filed, unless the court permits it to be made on the basis |
of affidavits that there is reason to believe the child's |
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present environment may endanger seriously the child's mental, |
physical, or emotional health. |
(2) The court shall not modify an
a prior grandparent, |
great-grandparent, or sibling visitation order that grants |
visitation to a grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling |
unless it finds by clear and convincing evidence, upon the |
basis of facts that have arisen since the prior visitation |
order or that were unknown to the court at the time of entry of |
the prior visitation, that a change has occurred in the |
circumstances of the child or his or her custodian, and that |
the modification is necessary to protect the mental, physical, |
or emotional health of the child. The court shall state in its |
decision specific findings of fact in support of its |
modification or termination of the grandparent, |
great-grandparent, or sibling visitation. A child's parent may |
always petition to modify visitation upon changed |
circumstances when necessary to promote the child's best |
interest. |
(3) Attorney fees and costs shall be assessed against a |
party seeking modification of the visitation order if the court |
finds that the modification action is vexatious and constitutes |
harassment. |
(4) Notice under this subsection (a-7) shall be given as |
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 |
to a stepparent
upon petition to the court by the stepparent, |
with notice to the parties
required to be notified under |
Section 601 of this Act, if the court determines
that it is in |
the best interests and welfare of the child, and may issue any
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necessary orders to enforce those visitation privileges.
A |
petition for visitation privileges may be filed under this |
paragraph (1.5)
whether or not a petition pursuant to this Act |
has been previously filed or is
currently pending if the |
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 |
stepparent for at
least 5 years;
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(C) the parent is deceased or is disabled and is unable |
to care for the
child;
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(D) the child wishes to have reasonable visitation with |
the stepparent;
and
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(E) the stepparent was providing for the care, control, |
and welfare to the
child prior to the initiation of the |
petition for visitation.
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(2)(A) A petition for visitation privileges shall not be |
filed pursuant
to this subsection (b) by the parents or |
grandparents of a putative father
if the paternity of the |
putative father has not been legally established.
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(B) A petition for visitation privileges may not be filed |
under
this subsection (b) if the child who is the subject of |
the
grandparents' or great-grandparents' petition has been |
voluntarily
surrendered by the parent or parents, except for a |
surrender to the
Illinois Department of Children and Family |
Services or a foster care
facility, or has been previously |
adopted by an individual or individuals
who are not related to |
the biological parents of the child or is the
subject of a |
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 |
visitation
rights of a parent whenever modification would serve |
the best interest of
the child;
but the court shall not |
restrict a parent's visitation rights unless it
finds that the |
visitation would endanger seriously the child's physical,
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mental, moral or emotional health.
The court may modify an |
order granting, denying, or limiting visitation
rights of a |
grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling of any minor child
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whenever a change of circumstances has occurred based on facts |
occurring
subsequent to the judgment and the court finds by |
clear and convincing evidence
that the modification is in the |
best interest of the minor child.
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(d) If any court has entered an order prohibiting a |
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 |
child, the
following provisions shall apply:
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(1) If an order has been entered granting visitation |
privileges with the
child to a grandparent or |
great-grandparent who is related to the child through
the |
non-custodial parent, the visitation privileges of the |
grandparent or
great-grandparent may be revoked if:
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(i) a court has entered an order prohibiting the |
non-custodial parent
from any contact with the child, |
and the grandparent or great-grandparent is
found to |
have used his or her visitation privileges to |
facilitate contact
between the child and the |
non-custodial parent; or
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(ii) a court has entered an order restricting the |
non-custodial parent's
contact with the child, and the |
grandparent or great-grandparent is found to
have used |
his or her visitation privileges to facilitate contact
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between the child and the non-custodial parent in a |
manner that violates the
terms of the order restricting |
the non-custodial parent's contact with the
child.
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Nothing in this subdivision (1) limits the authority of |
the court to
enforce its orders in any manner permitted by |
law.
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(2) Any order granting visitation privileges with the |
child to a
grandparent or great-grandparent who is related |
to the child through the
non-custodial parent shall contain |
the following provision:
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"If the (grandparent or great-grandparent, whichever |
is applicable) who has
been granted visitation privileges |
under this order uses the visitation
privileges to |
facilitate contact between the child and the child's
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non-custodial parent, the visitation privileges granted |
under this order shall
be permanently revoked."
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(e) No parent, not granted custody of the child, or |
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grandparent, or
great-grandparent, or stepparent, or sibling |
of any minor child, convicted
of any offense
involving an |
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 |
Article 12 of the
Criminal Code of 1961, is entitled to |
visitation rights while incarcerated
or while on parole, |
probation, conditional discharge, periodic
imprisonment, or
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mandatory supervised release for that offense, and upon |
discharge from
incarceration for a misdemeanor offense or upon |
discharge from parole,
probation, conditional discharge, |
periodic imprisonment,
or mandatory supervised release for a |
felony offense, visitation shall be
denied until the person |
successfully completes a treatment program approved
by the |
court.
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(f) Unless the court determines, after considering all |
relevant factors,
including but not limited to those set forth |
in Section 602(a), that it would
be in the best interests of |
the child to allow visitation, the court shall not
enter an |
order providing visitation rights and pursuant to a motion to |
modify
visitation shall revoke visitation rights previously |
granted to any
person who would otherwise be entitled to |
petition for visitation rights under
this Section who has been |
convicted of first degree murder of the parent,
grandparent, |
great-grandparent, or sibling of the child who is the subject |
of
the order. Until an order is entered pursuant to this |
subsection, no person
shall visit, with
the child present, a |
person who has been convicted of first degree murder of
the |
parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling of the |
child
without the consent of the child's parent, other than a |
parent convicted of
first degree murder as set forth herein, or |
legal
guardian.
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(g) (Blank).
If an order has been entered limiting, for |
cause, a minor child's
contact or
visitation with a |
grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling on the grounds
that |
it was in the best interest of the child to do so, that order |
may be
modified only upon a showing of a substantial change in |