Public Act 103-0475
 
SB0195 EnrolledLRB103 27018 LNS 53385 b

    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Probate Act of 1975 is amended by changing
Section 11-5 as follows:
 
    (755 ILCS 5/11-5)  (from Ch. 110 1/2, par. 11-5)
    Sec. 11-5. Appointment of guardian.
    (a) Upon the filing of a petition for the appointment of a
guardian or on its own motion, the court may appoint a guardian
of the estate or of both the person and estate, of a minor, or
may appoint a guardian of the person only of a minor or minors,
as the court finds to be in the best interest of the minor or
minors.
    (a-1) A parent, adoptive parent or adjudicated parent,
whose parental rights have not been terminated, may designate
in any writing, including a will, a person qualified to act
under Section 11-3 to be appointed as guardian of the person or
estate, or both, of an unmarried minor or of a child likely to
be born. A parent, adoptive parent or adjudicated parent,
whose parental rights have not been terminated, or a guardian
or a standby guardian of an unmarried minor or of a child
likely to be born may designate in any writing, including a
will, a person qualified to act under Section 11-3 to be
appointed as successor guardian of the minor's person or
estate, or both. The designation must be witnessed by 2 or more
credible witnesses at least 18 years of age, neither of whom is
the person designated as the guardian. The designation may be
proved by any competent evidence. If the designation is
executed and attested in the same manner as a will, it shall
have prima facie validity. The designation of a guardian or
successor guardian does not affect the rights of the other
parent in the minor.
    (b) The court lacks jurisdiction to proceed on a petition
for the appointment of a guardian of a minor if it finds that
(i) the minor has a living parent, adoptive parent or
adjudicated parent, whose parental rights have not been
terminated, whose whereabouts are known, and who is willing
and able to make and carry out day-to-day child care decisions
concerning the minor, unless: (1) the parent or parents
voluntarily relinquished physical custody of the minor; (2)
after receiving notice of the hearing under Section 11-10.1,
the parent or parents fail to object to the appointment at the
hearing on the petition; (3) the parent or parents consent to
the appointment as evidenced by a written document that has
been notarized and dated, or by a personal appearance and
consent in open court; or (4) the parent or parents, due to an
administrative separation, are unable to give consent to the
appointment in person or by a notarized, written document as
evidenced by a sworn affidavit submitted by the petitioner
describing the parent's or parents' inability to receive
notice or give consent; or (ii) there is a guardian for the
minor appointed by a court of competent jurisdiction. There
shall be a rebuttable presumption that a parent of a minor is
willing and able to make and carry out day-to-day child care
decisions concerning the minor, but the presumption may be
rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence. If a short-term
guardian has been appointed for the minor prior to the filing
of the petition and the petitioner for guardianship is not the
short-term guardian, there shall be a rebuttable presumption
that it is in the best interest of the minor to remain in the
care of the short-term guardian. The petitioner shall have the
burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that it is
not in the child's best interest to remain with the short-term
guardian.
    (b-1) If the court finds the appointment of a guardian of
the minor to be in the best interest of the minor, and if a
standby guardian has previously been appointed for the minor
under Section 11-5.3, the court shall appoint the standby
guardian as the guardian of the person or estate, or both, of
the minor unless the court finds, upon good cause shown, that
the appointment would no longer be in the best interest of the
minor.
    (b-2) No petition for the appointment of a guardian of a
minor shall be filed if the primary purpose of the filing is to
reduce the financial resources available to the minor in order
to cause the minor to qualify for public or private financial
assistance from an educational institution. The court may deny
the petition if it finds by a preponderance of the evidence
that the primary purpose of the filing is to enable the minor
to declare financial independence so that the minor may obtain
public or private financial assistance from an educational
institution or a State or federal student financial aid
program.
    (c) If the minor is 14 years of age or more, the minor may
nominate the guardian of the minor's person and estate,
subject to approval of the court. If the minor's nominee is not
approved by the court or if, after notice to the minor, the
minor fails to nominate a guardian of the minor's person or
estate, the court may appoint the guardian without nomination.
    (d) The court shall not appoint as guardian of the person
of the minor any person whom the court has determined had
caused or substantially contributed to the minor becoming a
neglected or abused minor as defined in the Juvenile Court Act
of 1987, unless 2 years have elapsed since the last proven
incident of abuse or neglect and the court determines that
appointment of such person as guardian is in the best
interests of the minor.
    (e) Previous statements made by the minor relating to any
allegations that the minor is an abused or neglected child
within the meaning of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting
Act, or an abused or neglected minor within the meaning of the
Juvenile Court Act of 1987, shall be admissible in evidence in
a hearing concerning appointment of a guardian of the person
or estate of the minor. No such statement, however, if
uncorroborated and not subject to cross-examination, shall be
sufficient in itself to support a finding of abuse or neglect.
(Source: P.A. 101-120, eff. 7-23-19.)
 
    Section 10. The Educational Planning Services Consumer
Protection Act is amended by changing Sections 10, 15, 20, 25,
30, 40, and 90 as follows:
 
    (815 ILCS 616/10)
    Sec. 10. Purpose and construction. The purpose of this Act
is to protect consumers who enter into agreements with
educational planning service providers and to regulate
educational planning service providers. This Act shall be
construed as a consumer protection law for all purposes. This
Act shall be liberally construed to effectuate its purpose.
(Source: P.A. 102-571, eff. 1-1-22.)
 
    (815 ILCS 616/15)
    Sec. 15. Definitions. As used in this Act:
    "Consumer" means any person who purchases or contracts for
the purchase of educational planning services.
    "Educational planning services" means college and career
preparatory planning services, including, but not limited to,
advice regarding and assistance with college and career
searches; college application preparation or submission;
financial aid application planning, preparation, or
submission; and scholarship searches and applications.
    "Educational planning service provider" means any person
or entity engaging in or holding itself out as engaging in the
business of providing educational planning services in
exchange for any fee or compensation, or any person who
solicits or acts on behalf of any person or entity engaging in
or holding itself out as engaging in the business of providing
educational planning services in exchange for any fee or
compensation. "Educational planning service provider" does not
include any of the following:
        (1) An A not-for-profit or public institution of
    higher learning, as defined in the Higher Education
    Student Assistance Act, and the individuals employed by
    that institution where educational planning services are
    provided as part of the financial aid or career counseling
    services offered by the institution.
        (2) Public entities and their officers while acting in
    their official capacities.
        (3) Persons acting on behalf of a consumer under court
    order or as a legal representative.
    "Enrollment fee" or "set up fee" means any fee,
obligation, or compensation paid or to be paid by the consumer
to an educational planning service provider in consideration
of or in connection with establishing a contract or other
agreement with a consumer related to the provision of
educational planning services.
    "Maintenance fee" means any fee, obligation, or
compensation paid or to be paid by the consumer on a periodic
basis to an educational planning service provider in
consideration for maintaining the relationship and services to
be provided by the educational planning service provider in
accordance with a contract with a consumer related to the
provision of educational planning services.
(Source: P.A. 102-571, eff. 1-1-22.)
 
    (815 ILCS 616/20)
    Sec. 20. Prohibitions and requirements.
    (a) It shall be unlawful for any person or entity to act as
an educational planning service provider unless it remains in
compliance with except as authorized by this Act.
    (b) An educational planning service provider may not
provide educational planning services to a consumer for a fee
without a written contract signed and dated by both the
consumer and the educational planning service provider. A
contract between an educational planning service provider and
a consumer for the provision of educational planning services
shall disclose clearly and conspicuously all of the following:
        (1) The name and address of the consumer.
        (2) The date of execution of the contract.
        (3) The legal name of the educational planning service
    provider, including any other business names used by the
    educational planning service provider.
        (4) The corporate address and regular business
    address, including a street address, of the educational
    planning service provider.
        (5) The telephone number at which the consumer may
    speak with a representative of the educational planning
    service provider during normal business hours.
        (6) A description of the services and an itemized list
    of all fees to be paid by the consumer for each service and
    the date, approximate date, or circumstances under which
    each fee will become due.
        (7) The contents of the Consumer Notice and Rights
    Form provided in Section 25 of this Act.
        (8) A written notice to the consumer that the consumer
    may cancel the contract at any time until after the
    educational planning service provider has fully performed
    each service the educational planning service provider
    contracted to perform or represented he or she would
    perform and that the consumer may not be required to pay
    for services the consumer did not receive and shall be
    entitled to a full refund of any fees paid for educational
    planning services not provided.
        (9) A form the consumer may use to cancel the contract
    pursuant to this Act. The form shall include the name and
    mailing address of the educational planning service
    provider and shall disclose clearly and conspicuously how
    the consumer can cancel the contract, including applicable
    addresses, telephone numbers, facsimile numbers, and
    electronic mail addresses the consumer can use to cancel
    the contract. Notwithstanding any other provision of this
    paragraph (9) to the contrary, a consumer's lack of strict
    adherence to an educational planning service provider's
    cancellation form or processes does not invalidate a
    consumer's good faith and reasonable method or form of
    cancellation.
    (c) If an educational planning service provider
communicates with a consumer primarily in a language other
than English, then the educational planning service provider
shall furnish to the consumer a translation of all the
disclosures and documents required by this Act, including, but
not limited to, the contract, in that other language.
    (d) An educational planning service provider may not
charge or receive from a consumer any enrollment fee, set up
fee, up-front fee of any kind, or maintenance fee, and a
consumer shall pay only for the educational planning services
provided.
    (e) An educational planning service provider may not do
any of the following:
        (1) Represent, expressly or by implication, any
    results or outcomes of its educational planning services
    in any advertising, marketing, or other communication to
    consumers unless the educational planning service provider
    possesses substantiation for such representation at the
    time such representation is made.
        (2) Expressly or by implication, make any unfair or
    deceptive representations or any omissions of material
    facts in any of its advertising or marketing
    communications concerning educational planning services.
        (3) Advertise or market educational planning services,
    enter into a contract for educational planning services,
    or provide educational planning services without making
    the disclosures required in this Act at the times and in
    the form and manner as described in this Act.
        (4) Advise about or represent, expressly or by
    implication, any unlawful services to be provided or fees
    to be collected by the educational planning service
    provider.
        (5) Advise or represent, expressly or by implication,
    that consumers pay any fees that are unearned by the
    educational planning service provider.
        (6) Advise, encourage, or represent, expressly or by
    implication, that a consumer provide false or misleading
    information about financial or other circumstances to gain
    admission into a higher education institution or to be
    eligible for student financial aid, including, but not
    limited to, advising a consumer to petition for the
    appointment of a guardian for a minor for the primary
    purpose of reducing the financial resources available to
    the minor in order to cause the minor to qualify for public
    or private financial aid.
(Source: P.A. 102-571, eff. 1-1-22.)
 
    (815 ILCS 616/25)
    Sec. 25. Required disclosures.
    (a) In any marketing or advertising communications, an
education planning service provider must provide the following
disclosure verbatim, both orally and in writing, with the
caption:
 
    
CONSUMER NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY
    
OF FREE THESE SERVICES FOR FREE
        General educational Educational planning services may
    be available of this type are provided free of charge from
    at no cost to you by the Illinois Student Assistance
    Commission and may also be offered by other public or
    not-for-profit entities, such as a public library or an
    institution of higher learning.
 
    (b) An educational planning service provider must provide
the following warning verbatim, both orally and in writing,
with the caption "CONSUMER NOTICE AND RIGHTS FORM" in at least
18-point 28-point font and the remaining portion in at least
12-point 14-point font, to a consumer before the consumer
signs a contract for the educational planning service
provider's services:
 
    
CONSUMER NOTICE AND RIGHTS FORM

 
    
AVAILABILITY OF FREE THESE SERVICES FOR FREE
        General educational Educational planning services may
    be available of this type are provided free of charge from
    at no cost to you by the Illinois Student Assistance
    Commission and may be offered by other public or
    not-for-profit entities, such as a public library or an
    institution of higher learning.
 
    
YOUR RIGHT TO CANCEL
        If you sign a contract with an educational planning
    service provider, you have the right to cancel at any time
    and receive a full refund of all unearned fees you have
    paid to the provider. You will not be responsible for
    payment of services that are not fully performed.
 
    
IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED OR YOU HAVE QUESTIONS
        If you are dissatisfied with an educational planning
    service provider or have any questions, please bring it to
    the attention of the Illinois Attorney General's Office.
 
    (c) The educational planning service provider must
maintain proof that it has provided to the consumer the
Consumer Notice and Rights Form in accordance with subsection
(b) of this Section.
    (d) The consumer shall sign and date an acknowledgment
form titled "Consumer Notice and Rights Form" that states: "I,
the consumer, have received from the educational planning
service provider a copy of the form titled "Consumer Notice
and Rights Form," and I have been provided the Illinois
Student Assistance Commission's Internet website address where
I can obtain general educational planning services are
provided free of charge.". The educational planning service
provider or its representative shall also sign and date the
acknowledgment form, which shall include the name and address
of the educational planning service provider. The
acknowledgment form shall be in duplicate and shall be
incorporated into the Consumer Notice and Rights Form under
subsection (b) of this Section. The original acknowledgment
form shall be retained by the educational planning service
provider, and the duplicate copy shall be retained by the
consumer.
    (e) If the acknowledgment form under subsection (d) of
this Section is in an electronic format, then, in addition to
the other requirements of this Act, the acknowledgment form
shall:
        (1) contain a live link to the Illinois Student
    Assistance Commission's Internet website where general
    educational planning services may be available are offered
    free of charge; and
        (2) be digitally signed by the consumer in compliance
    with the provisions of the federal Electronic Signatures
    in Global and National Commerce Act concerning consumer
    disclosures, including subsection (c) of Section 101 of
    that Act.
(Source: P.A. 102-571, eff. 1-1-22.)
 
    (815 ILCS 616/30)
    Sec. 30. Cancellation of contract; refund.
    (a) A consumer may cancel a contract with an educational
planning service provider at any time before the educational
planning service provider has fully performed each service the
educational planning service provider contracted to perform or
represented it would perform.
    (b) If a consumer cancels a contract with an educational
planning service provider, then the educational planning
service provider shall refund all fees and compensation, with
the exception of any earned fees for services provided.
    (c) At any time upon a material violation of this Act on
the part of the educational planning service provider, the
educational planning service provider shall refund all fees
and compensation to the consumer.
    (d) An educational planning service provider shall make
any refund required under this Act within 5 business days
after the notice of cancellation or voiding of the contract
due to a violation of this Act and shall include with the
refund a full statement of account showing fees received and
fees refunded.
    (e) Upon cancellation or voiding of the contract, all
direct debit authorizations granted to the educational
planning service provider by the consumer shall be considered
revoked and voided.
    (f) Upon the termination of the contract for any reason,
the educational planning service provider shall provide a
timely and accurate response to any postsecondary institution,
agency, or other entity that contacts the provider in
reference to the consumer, indicating that the provider notice
that it no longer represents the consumer to any entity or
agency with whom the educational planning service provider has
had any prior communication on behalf of the consumer in
connection with the provision of any educational planning
services.
(Source: P.A. 102-571, eff. 1-1-22.)
 
    (815 ILCS 616/40)
    Sec. 40. Civil remedies; injunction.
    (a) A material violation of this Act constitutes an
unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive
Business Practices Act. All remedies, penalties, and authority
granted to the Attorney General or State's Attorney by the
Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act shall be
available to him or her for the enforcement of this Act.
    (b) A consumer who suffers loss by reason of a material
violation of this Act may bring a civil action in accordance
with the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act
to enforce a provision of this Act. All remedies and rights
granted to a consumer by the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive
Business Practices Act shall be available to the consumer
bringing such an action. The remedies and rights provided for
in this Act are not exclusive, but cumulative, and all other
applicable claims are specifically preserved.
    (c) Any contract for educational planning services made in
material violation of this Act shall be null and void and of no
legal effect.
    (d) To engage in educational planning services in
violation of this Act is declared to be inimical to the public
welfare and to constitute a public nuisance. The Illinois
Student Assistance Commission may, in the name of the people
of the State of Illinois, through the Attorney General, file a
complaint for an injunction in the circuit court to enjoin
such person from engaging in that unlawful business. An
injunction proceeding shall be in addition to and not in lieu
of penalties and remedies otherwise provided in this Act.
(Source: P.A. 102-571, eff. 1-1-22.)
 
    (815 ILCS 616/90)
    Sec. 90. Rules. The Illinois Student Assistance Commission
shall adopt and enforce all reasonable rules necessary or
appropriate for the administration of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 102-571, eff. 1-1-22.)

Effective Date: 1/1/2024