HB4829 93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB093 20579 LCB 46390 b

93RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2003 and 2004
HB4829

Introduced 02/04/04, by Cynthia Soto

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

750 ILCS 5/510

from Ch. 40, par. 510

Amends the Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Requires the court to modify the child support and maintenance obligation of any member of the National Guard or Reserves of the United States Armed Forces who is called up to active duty, by the same proportion that the soldier's military pay falls below his or her civilian pay, provided that the motion for modification is filed within 180 days of the soldier's discharge from active duty. Provides that the modification shall be retroactive to the date that the soldier reported to active duty and shall continue until his or her discharge from active duty. Effective immediately.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning child support.

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

Section 5. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act is amended by changing Section 510 as follows:

(750 ILCS 5/510) (from Ch. 40, par. 510)

Sec. 510. Modification and termination of provisions for maintenance, support, educational expenses, and property disposition.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (g) of this Section, in paragraph (f) of Section 502, and in subsection (b), clause (3) of Section 505.2, the provisions of any judgment respecting maintenance or support may be modified only as to installments accruing subsequent to due notice by the moving party of the filing of the motion for modification. An order for child support may be modified as follows:

(1) upon a showing of a substantial change in circumstances; and

(2) without the necessity of showing a substantial change in circumstances, as follows:

(A) upon a showing of an inconsistency of at least 20%, but no less than $10 per month, between the amount of the existing order and the amount of child support that results from application of the guidelines specified in Section 505 of this Act unless the inconsistency is due to the fact that the amount of the existing order resulted from a deviation from the guideline amount and there has not been a change in the circumstances that resulted in that deviation; or

(B) Upon a showing of a need to provide for the health care needs of the child under the order through health insurance or other means. In no event shall the eligibility for or receipt of medical assistance be considered to meet the need to provide for the child's health care needs.

The provisions of subparagraph (a)(2)(A) shall apply only in cases in which a party is receiving child support enforcement services from the Illinois Department of Public Aid under Article X of the Illinois Public Aid Code, and only when at least 36 months have elapsed since the order for child support was entered or last modified.

(a-5) An order for maintenance may be modified or terminated only upon a showing of a substantial change in circumstances. In all such proceedings, as well as in proceedings in which maintenance is being reviewed, the court shall consider the applicable factors set forth in subsection (a) of Section 504 and the following factors:

(1) any change in the employment status of either party and whether the change has been made in good faith;

(2) the efforts, if any, made by the party receiving maintenance to become self-supporting, and the reasonableness of the efforts where they are appropriate;

(3) any impairment of the present and future earning capacity of either party;

(4) the tax consequences of the maintenance payments upon the respective economic circumstances of the parties;

(5) the duration of the maintenance payments previously paid (and remaining to be paid) relative to the length of the marriage;

(6) the property, including retirement benefits, awarded to each party under the judgment of dissolution of marriage, judgment of legal separation, or judgment of declaration of invalidity of marriage and the present status of the property;

(7) the increase or decrease in each party's income since the prior judgment or order from which a review, modification, or termination is being sought;

(8) the property acquired and currently owned by each party after the entry of the judgment of dissolution of marriage, judgment of legal separation, or judgment of declaration of invalidity of marriage; and

(9) any other factor that the court expressly finds to be just and equitable.

(b) The provisions as to property disposition may not be revoked or modified, unless the court finds the existence of conditions that justify the reopening of a judgment under the laws of this State.

(c) Unless otherwise agreed by the parties in a written agreement set forth in the judgment or otherwise approved by the court, the obligation to pay future maintenance is terminated upon the death of either party, or the remarriage of the party receiving maintenance, or if the party receiving maintenance cohabits with another person on a resident, continuing conjugal basis.

(d) Unless otherwise provided in this Act, or as agreed in writing or expressly provided in the judgment, provisions for the support of a child are terminated by emancipation of the child, or if the child has attained the age of 18 and is still attending high school, provisions for the support of the child are terminated upon the date that the child graduates from high school or the date the child attains the age of 19, whichever is earlier, but not by the death of a parent obligated to support or educate the child. An existing obligation to pay for support or educational expenses, or both, is not terminated by the death of a parent. When a parent obligated to pay support or educational expenses, or both, dies, the amount of support or educational expenses, or both, may be enforced, modified, revoked or commuted to a lump sum payment, as equity may require, and that determination may be provided for at the time of the dissolution of the marriage or thereafter.

(e) The right to petition for support or educational expenses, or both, under Sections 505 and 513 is not extinguished by the death of a parent. Upon a petition filed before or after a parent's death, the court may award sums of money out of the decedent's estate for the child's support or educational expenses, or both, as equity may require. The time within which a claim may be filed against the estate of a decedent under Sections 505 and 513 and subsection (d) and this subsection shall be governed by the provisions of the Probate Act of 1975, as a barrable, noncontingent claim.

(f) A petition to modify or terminate child support, custody, or visitation shall not delay any child support enforcement litigation or supplementary proceeding on behalf of the obligee, including, but not limited to, a petition for a rule to show cause, for non-wage garnishment, or for a restraining order.

(g) Upon the motion for modification of any judgment respecting the maintenance or support obligation of any member of the National Guard or Reserves of the United States Armed Forces called up to active duty outside the United States, the court shall modify the soldier's maintenance or support obligation by the same proportion that the soldier's military pay falls below his or her civilian pay, provided that the motion is filed within 180 days of the soldier's discharge from active duty. The modification shall be retroactive to the date the soldier reported for active duty and shall continue until his or her discharge from active duty.

(Source: P.A. 92-289, eff. 8-9-01; 92-590, eff. 7-1-02; 92-651, eff. 7-11-02; 92-876, eff. 6-1-03; 93-353, eff. 1-1-04.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.