Public Act 094-1026
 		





HB4357 Enrolled
LRB094 15974 AJO 51205 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 Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of 
Marriage Act is amended  by changing Section 607 as follows:
 



    (750 ILCS 5/607)  (from Ch. 40, par. 607)


    Sec. 607. Visitation. 

    (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

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.

    (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 
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;

        (A-10) a parent of the child is incompetent as a matter 
    of law;

        (A-15) a parent has been incarcerated in jail or prison 
    during the 3 month period preceding the filing of the 
    petition;

        (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 
    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.

    (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:

        (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;

        (E) the good faith of the party in filing the petition;

        (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


        (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.

    (5)  The court may order visitation rights for the 
grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling that include 
reasonable access without requiring overnight or possessory 
visitation.

    (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 
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.

    (b) (1) (Blank.)

    (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

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:


        (A) the child is at least 12 years old;


        (B) the child resided continuously with the parent and 
    stepparent for at
least 5 years;


        (C) the parent is deceased or is disabled and is unable 
    to care for the
child;


        (D) the child wishes to have reasonable visitation with 
    the stepparent;
and


        (E) the stepparent was providing for the care, control, 
    and welfare to the
child prior to the initiation of the 
    petition for visitation.

    (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.

    (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

are not related to the biological parents of the child.

    (3) (Blank).

    (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,

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

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.

    (d) If any court has entered an order prohibiting a 
non-custodial parent
of a child from any contact with a child

or restricting the non-custodial parent's contact with the 
child, the
following provisions shall apply:


        (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:


            (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


            (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

        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.


        Nothing in this subdivision (1) limits the authority of 
    the court to
enforce its orders in any manner permitted by 
    law.


        (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:


        "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

    non-custodial parent, the visitation privileges granted 
    under this order shall
be permanently revoked."

    (e) No parent, not granted custody of the child, or 
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

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

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.

    (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.

    (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 
circumstances occurring
subsequent to the entry of the order 
with proof by clear and convincing
evidence that modification 
is in the best interest of the minor child.

(Source: P.A. 93-911, eff. 1-1-05; 94-229, eff. 1-1-06.)