Full Text of HB0360 94th General Assembly
HB0360enr 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning families.
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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 Sections 506 and 608 as | 6 |
| follows:
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| (750 ILCS 5/506) (from Ch. 40, par. 506)
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| Sec. 506. Representation of child.
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| (a) Duties. In any proceedings involving the support, | 10 |
| custody,
visitation, education, parentage, property interest, | 11 |
| or general welfare of a
minor or dependent child, the court | 12 |
| may, on its own motion or that of any
party, and subject to the | 13 |
| terms or specifications the court determines, appoint
an | 14 |
| attorney to serve in one of the following capacities to address | 15 |
| the issues the court delineates :
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| (1) Attorney. The attorney shall provide independent | 17 |
| legal counsel for the child and shall owe the same duties | 18 |
| of undivided loyalty, confidentiality, and competent | 19 |
| representation as are due an adult client.
as an attorney | 20 |
| to represent the child;
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| (2) Guardian ad litem. The guardian ad litem shall | 22 |
| testify or submit a written report to the court regarding | 23 |
| his or her recommendations in accordance with the best | 24 |
| interest of the child. The report shall be made available | 25 |
| to all parties. The guardian ad litem may be called as a | 26 |
| witness for purposes of cross-examination regarding the | 27 |
| guardian ad litem's report or recommendations. The | 28 |
| guardian ad litem shall investigate the facts of the case | 29 |
| and interview the child and the parties.
as a guardian ad | 30 |
| litem to address issues the court delineates;
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| (3) Child representative. The child representative | 32 |
| shall
as a child's representative whose duty shall be to |
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| advocate what the
child representative finds to be in the | 2 |
| best interests of the child after reviewing
the facts and | 3 |
| circumstances of the case. The child representative shall | 4 |
| meet with the child and the parties, investigate the facts | 5 |
| of the case, and encourage settlement and the use of | 6 |
| alternative forms of dispute resolution. The child
child's | 7 |
| representative shall have
the same power and authority and | 8 |
| obligation to participate
take part in the conduct of the | 9 |
| litigation as
does an attorney for a party and shall | 10 |
| possess all the powers of investigation
and recommendation | 11 |
| as does a guardian ad litem. The child
child's | 12 |
| representative
shall consider, but not be bound by, the | 13 |
| expressed wishes of the child. A
child
child's | 14 |
| representative shall have received training in child | 15 |
| advocacy or shall
possess such experience as determined to | 16 |
| be equivalent to such training by the
chief judge of the | 17 |
| circuit where the child
child's representative has been | 18 |
| appointed.
The
child
child's representative shall not | 19 |
| disclose confidential communications made
by the child, | 20 |
| except as required by law or by the Rules of Professional
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| Conduct. The child
child's representative shall not render | 22 |
| an opinion, recommendation, or report to the court and | 23 |
| shall not be called as a witness , but shall offer | 24 |
| evidence-based legal arguments
regarding
the issues set | 25 |
| forth in this subsection . The child representative shall | 26 |
| disclose the position as to what the child representative | 27 |
| intends to advocate in a pre-trial memorandum that shall be | 28 |
| served upon all counsel of record prior to the trial. The | 29 |
| position disclosed in the pre-trial memorandum shall not be | 30 |
| considered evidence. The court and the parties may consider | 31 |
| the position of the child representative for purposes of a | 32 |
| settlement conference.
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| (a-3) Additional appointments. During the proceedings the | 34 |
| court may appoint an additional attorney to
serve in the | 35 |
| capacity described in subdivision (a)(1) or an additional | 36 |
| attorney to serve in another of the capacities described in |
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| subdivision
subdivisions (a)(1), (a)(2) , or
(a)(3) on
the | 2 |
| court's
its own motion or that of a party only for good cause | 3 |
| shown and when the
reasons for the additional appointment are | 4 |
| set forth in specific findings.
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| (a-5) Appointment considerations. In deciding whether to | 6 |
| make an appointment of an attorney for the minor child, a | 7 |
| guardian ad litem, or a child representative, the court shall | 8 |
| consider the nature and adequacy of the evidence to be | 9 |
| presented by the parties and the availability of other methods | 10 |
| of obtaining information, including social service | 11 |
| organizations and evaluations by mental health professions, as | 12 |
| well as resources for payment.
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| In no event is this Section intended to or designed to | 14 |
| abrogate the decision making power of the trier of fact. Any | 15 |
| appointment made under this Section is not intended to nor | 16 |
| should it serve to place any appointed individual in the role | 17 |
| of a surrogate judge.
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| (b) Fees and costs. The court shall enter an order as | 19 |
| appropriate for
costs, fees, and disbursements, including a | 20 |
| retainer, when the attorney,
guardian ad litem, or child's | 21 |
| representative is appointed , and thereafter as
necessary . Any | 22 |
| person appointed under this Section shall file with the court | 23 |
| within 90 days of his or her appointment, and every subsequent | 24 |
| 90-day period thereafter during the course of his or her | 25 |
| representation, a detailed invoice for services rendered with a | 26 |
| copy being sent to each party. The court shall review the | 27 |
| invoice submitted and approve the fees, if they are reasonable | 28 |
| and necessary. Any order approving the fees
Such orders shall | 29 |
| require payment by either or both parents, by any
other party | 30 |
| or source, or from the marital estate or the child's separate
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| estate.
The court may not order payment by the Illinois | 32 |
| Department of Public Aid
in cases in which the Department is | 33 |
| providing child support
enforcement services
under Article X of | 34 |
| the Illinois Public Aid Code. Unless otherwise ordered by
the
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| court at the time fees and costs are
approved, all fees and | 36 |
| costs payable to an attorney, guardian ad litem, or
child
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| child's representative under this Section are by implication | 2 |
| deemed to be in
the nature of support of the child and are | 3 |
| within the exceptions to discharge
in bankruptcy under 11 | 4 |
| U.S.C.A. 523. The provisions of Sections 501 and 508 of
this | 5 |
| Act shall apply to fees and costs for attorneys appointed under | 6 |
| this
Section.
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| (Source: P.A. 91-410, eff. 1-1-00; 92-590, eff. 7-1-02.)
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| (750 ILCS 5/608) (from Ch. 40, par. 608)
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| Sec. 608. Judicial Supervision.
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| (a) Except as otherwise agreed by the parties in writing at | 11 |
| the time of
the custody judgment or as otherwise ordered by the | 12 |
| court, the custodian
may determine the child's upbringing, | 13 |
| including but not limited to, his
education, health care and | 14 |
| religious training, unless the court, after
hearing, finds, | 15 |
| upon motion by the noncustodial parent, that the absence of
a | 16 |
| specific limitation of the custodian's authority would clearly | 17 |
| be
contrary to the best interests of the child.
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| (b) If both parents or all contestants agree to the order, | 19 |
| or if the
court finds that in the absence of agreement the | 20 |
| child's physical health
would be endangered or his emotional | 21 |
| development significantly impaired,
the court may order the | 22 |
| Department of Children and Family Services to
exercise | 23 |
| continuing supervision over the case to assure that the | 24 |
| custodial
or visitation terms of the judgment are carried out. | 25 |
| Supervision shall be
carried out under the provisions of | 26 |
| Section 5 of the Children and Family
Services Act.
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| (c) The court may order individual counseling for the | 28 |
| child, family counseling for one or more of the parties and the | 29 |
| child, or parental education for one or more of the parties, | 30 |
| when it finds one or more of the following: | 31 |
| (1) both parents or all parties agree to the order; | 32 |
| (2) the court finds that the child's physical health is | 33 |
| endangered or his or her emotional development is impaired | 34 |
| including, but not limited to, a finding of visitation | 35 |
| abuse as defined by Section 607.1; or |
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| (3) the court finds that one or both of the parties | 2 |
| have violated the joint parenting agreement with regard to | 3 |
| conduct affecting or in the presence of the child. | 4 |
| (d) If the court finds that one or more of the parties has | 5 |
| violated an order of the court with regards to custody, | 6 |
| visitation, or joint parenting, the court shall assess the | 7 |
| costs of counseling against the violating party or parties. | 8 |
| Otherwise, the court may apportion the costs between the | 9 |
| parties as appropriate. | 10 |
| (e) The remedies provided in this Section are in addition | 11 |
| to, and shall not diminish or abridge in any way, the court's | 12 |
| power to exercise its authority through contempt or other | 13 |
| proceedings.
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| (f) All counseling sessions shall be confidential. The | 15 |
| communications in counseling shall not be used in any manner in | 16 |
| litigation nor relied upon by any expert appointed by the court | 17 |
| or retained by any party.
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| (Source: P.A. 87-824.)
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