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91_SB1533
LRB9112658DJcd
1 AN ACT to amend the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of
2 Marriage Act by adding Section 604.5.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of
6 Marriage Act is amended by adding Section 604.5 as follows:
7 (750 ILCS 5/604.5 new)
8 Sec. 604.5. Evaluation of child's best interest.
9 (a) In a proceeding for custody, visitation, or removal
10 of a child from Illinois, upon notice and motion made within
11 a reasonable time before trial, the court may order an
12 evaluation concerning the best interest of the child as it
13 relates to custody, visitation, or removal. The motion may
14 be made by a party, a parent, the child's custodian, the
15 attorney for the child, the child's guardian ad litem, or the
16 child's representative. The requested evaluation may be in
17 place of or in addition to an evaluation conducted under
18 subsection (b) of Section 604.
19 The motion shall state the identity of the proposed
20 evaluator and set forth the evaluator's specialty or
21 discipline. The court may refuse to order an evaluation by
22 the proposed evaluator, but in that event, the court may
23 permit the party seeking the evaluation to propose one or
24 more other evaluators.
25 (b) An order for an evaluation shall fix the time,
26 place, conditions, and scope of the evaluation and shall
27 designate the evaluator. A party or person shall not be
28 required to travel an unreasonable distance for the
29 evaluation.
30 (c) The person requesting an evaluator shall pay the fee
31 for the evaluation unless otherwise ordered by the court.
-2- LRB9112658DJcd
1 (d) Within 21 days after the completion of the
2 evaluation, if the moving party or person intends to call the
3 evaluator as a witness, the evaluator shall prepare and mail
4 or deliver to the attorneys of record duplicate originals of
5 the written evaluation. The evaluation shall set forth the
6 evaluator's findings, the results of all tests administered,
7 and the evaluator's conclusions and recommendations. If the
8 written evaluation is not delivered or mailed to the
9 attorneys within 21 days or within any extensions or
10 modifications granted by the court, the written evaluation
11 and the evaluator's testimony, conclusions, and
12 recommendations may not be received into evidence.
13 (e) The person calling an evaluator to testify at trial
14 shall disclose the evaluator as an opinion witness in
15 accordance with the Supreme Court Rules.
16 (f) Subject to compliance with the Supreme Court Rules,
17 nothing in this Section bars a person who did not request the
18 evaluation from calling the evaluator as a witness. In that
19 case, however, that person shall pay the evaluator's fee for
20 testifying unless otherwise ordered by the court.
21 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
22 becoming law.