101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB3542

 

Introduced , by Rep. Anne Stava-Murray

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
750 ILCS 5/510  from Ch. 40, par. 510
750 ILCS 5/610.5

    Amends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Provides that an order for child support may be modified in cases involving unequal parenting time if the court determines that the obligor is willing and able to increase his or her parenting time. Provides that if the court determines that the obligor is willing and able to increase his or her parenting time, then the court shall enter an order that reasonably increases his or her parenting time for one year with no support adjustment. Provides that if an obligor adheres to an increase in his or her parenting time for one year, then the court shall adjust the amount of support paid by the obligor to reflect the increase in parenting time. Makes corresponding changes.


LRB101 10538 LNS 55644 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

HB3542LRB101 10538 LNS 55644 b

1    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of
5Marriage Act is amended by changing Sections 510 and 610.5 as
6follows:
 
7    (750 ILCS 5/510)  (from Ch. 40, par. 510)
8    Sec. 510. Modification and termination of provisions for
9maintenance, support, educational expenses, and property
10disposition.
11    (a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (f) of
12Section 502 and in subsection (b), clause (3) of Section 505.2,
13the provisions of any judgment respecting maintenance or
14support may be modified only as to installments accruing
15subsequent to due notice by the moving party of the filing of
16the motion for modification. Except as provided in subsection
17(a-3), an An order for child support may be modified as
18follows:
19        (1) upon a showing of a substantial change in
20    circumstances; and
21        (2) without the necessity of showing a substantial
22    change in circumstances, as follows:
23            (A) upon a showing of an inconsistency of at least

 

 

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1        20%, but no less than $10 per month, between the amount
2        of the existing order and the amount of child support
3        that results from application of the guidelines
4        specified in Section 505 of this Act unless the
5        inconsistency is due to the fact that the amount of the
6        existing order resulted from a deviation from the
7        guideline amount and there has not been a change in the
8        circumstances that resulted in that deviation; or
9            (B) upon a showing of a need to provide for the
10        health care needs of the child under the order through
11        health insurance or other means. In no event shall the
12        eligibility for or receipt of medical assistance be
13        considered to meet the need to provide for the child's
14        health care needs.
15    The provisions of subparagraph (a)(2)(A) shall apply only
16in cases in which a party is receiving child support
17enforcement services from the Department of Healthcare and
18Family Services under Article X of the Illinois Public Aid
19Code, and only when at least 36 months have elapsed since the
20order for child support was entered or last modified.
21    The court may grant a petition for modification that seeks
22to apply the changes made to subsection (a) of Section 505 by
23Public Act 99-764 to an order entered before the effective date
24of Public Act 99-764 only upon a finding of a substantial
25change in circumstances that warrants application of the
26changes. The enactment of Public Act 99-764 itself does not

 

 

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1constitute a substantial change in circumstances warranting a
2modification.
3    (a-3) An order for child support may be modified in cases
4involving unequal parenting time if the court determines that
5the obligor is willing and able to increase his or her
6parenting time. If the court determines that the obligor is
7willing and able to increase his or her parenting time, then
8the court shall enter an order that reasonably increases his or
9her parenting time for one year with no support adjustment. If
10an obligor adheres to an increase in his or her parenting time
11for one year, then the court shall adjust the amount of support
12paid by the obligor to reflect the increase in parenting time.
13    (a-5) An order for maintenance may be modified or
14terminated only upon a showing of a substantial change in
15circumstances. The court may grant a petition for modification
16that seeks to apply the changes made to Section 504 by this
17amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly to an order
18entered before the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
19100th General Assembly only upon a finding of a substantial
20change in circumstances that warrants application of the
21changes. The enactment of this amendatory Act of the 100th
22General Assembly itself does not constitute a substantial
23change in circumstances warranting a modification. In all such
24proceedings, as well as in proceedings in which maintenance is
25being reviewed, the court shall consider the applicable factors
26set forth in subsection (a) of Section 504 and the following

 

 

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1factors:
2        (1) any change in the employment status of either party
3    and whether the change has been made in good faith;
4        (2) the efforts, if any, made by the party receiving
5    maintenance to become self-supporting, and the
6    reasonableness of the efforts where they are appropriate;
7        (3) any impairment of the present and future earning
8    capacity of either party;
9        (4) the tax consequences of the maintenance payments
10    upon the respective economic circumstances of the parties;
11        (5) the duration of the maintenance payments
12    previously paid (and remaining to be paid) relative to the
13    length of the marriage;
14        (6) the property, including retirement benefits,
15    awarded to each party under the judgment of dissolution of
16    marriage, judgment of legal separation, or judgment of
17    declaration of invalidity of marriage and the present
18    status of the property;
19        (7) the increase or decrease in each party's income
20    since the prior judgment or order from which a review,
21    modification, or termination is being sought;
22        (8) the property acquired and currently owned by each
23    party after the entry of the judgment of dissolution of
24    marriage, judgment of legal separation, or judgment of
25    declaration of invalidity of marriage; and
26        (9) any other factor that the court expressly finds to

 

 

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1    be just and equitable.
2    (a-6) (Blank).
3    (b) The provisions as to property disposition may not be
4revoked or modified, unless the court finds the existence of
5conditions that justify the reopening of a judgment under the
6laws of this State.
7    (c) Unless otherwise agreed by the parties in a written
8agreement set forth in the judgment or otherwise approved by
9the court, the obligation to pay future maintenance is
10terminated upon the death of either party, or the remarriage of
11the party receiving maintenance, or if the party receiving
12maintenance cohabits with another person on a resident,
13continuing conjugal basis. An obligor's obligation to pay
14maintenance or unallocated maintenance terminates by operation
15of law on the date the obligee remarries or the date the court
16finds cohabitation began. The obligor is entitled to
17reimbursement for all maintenance paid from that date forward.
18Any termination of an obligation for maintenance as a result of
19the death of the obligor, however, shall be inapplicable to any
20right of the other party or such other party's designee to
21receive a death benefit under such insurance on the obligor's
22life. An obligee must advise the obligor of his or her
23intention to marry at least 30 days before the remarriage,
24unless the decision is made within this time period. In that
25event, he or she must notify the obligor within 72 hours of
26getting married.

 

 

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1    (c-5) In an adjudicated case, the court shall make specific
2factual findings as to the reason for the modification as well
3as the amount, nature, and duration of the modified maintenance
4award.
5    (d) Unless otherwise provided in this Act, or as agreed in
6writing or expressly provided in the judgment, provisions for
7the support of a child are terminated by emancipation of the
8child, or if the child has attained the age of 18 and is still
9attending high school, provisions for the support of the child
10are terminated upon the date that the child graduates from high
11school or the date the child attains the age of 19, whichever
12is earlier, but not by the death of a parent obligated to
13support or educate the child. An existing obligation to pay for
14support or educational expenses, or both, is not terminated by
15the death of a parent. When a parent obligated to pay support
16or educational expenses, or both, dies, the amount of support
17or educational expenses, or both, may be enforced, modified,
18revoked or commuted to a lump sum payment, as equity may
19require, and that determination may be provided for at the time
20of the dissolution of the marriage or thereafter.
21    (e) The right to petition for support or educational
22expenses, or both, under Sections 505, 513, and 513.5 is not
23extinguished by the death of a parent. Upon a petition filed
24before or after a parent's death, the court may award sums of
25money out of the decedent's estate for the child's support or
26educational expenses, or both, as equity may require. The time

 

 

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1within which a claim may be filed against the estate of a
2decedent under Sections 505 and 513 and subsection (d) and this
3subsection shall be governed by the provisions of the Probate
4Act of 1975, as a barrable, noncontingent claim.
5    (f) A petition to modify or terminate child support or the
6allocation of parental responsibilities, including parenting
7time, shall not delay any child support enforcement litigation
8or supplementary proceeding on behalf of the obligee,
9including, but not limited to, a petition for a rule to show
10cause, for non-wage garnishment, or for a restraining order.
11(Source: P.A. 99-90, eff. 1-1-16; 99-764, eff. 7-1-17; 100-15,
12eff. 7-1-17; 100-201, eff. 8-18-17; 100-923, eff. 1-1-19.)
 
13    (750 ILCS 5/610.5)
14    Sec. 610.5. Modification.
15    (a) Unless by stipulation of the parties or except as
16provided in Section 603.10 of this Act, no motion to modify an
17order allocating parental decision-making responsibilities,
18not including parenting time, may be made earlier than 2 years
19after its date, unless the court permits it to be made on the
20basis of affidavits that there is reason to believe the child's
21present environment may endanger seriously his or her mental,
22moral, or physical health or significantly impair the child's
23emotional development. Parenting time may be modified at any
24time, without a showing of serious endangerment, upon a showing
25of changed circumstances that necessitates modification to

 

 

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1serve the best interests of the child. Parenting time may be
2modified at any time pursuant to subsection (a-3) of Section
3510.
4    (b) (Blank).
5    (c) Except in a case concerning the modification of any
6restriction of parental responsibilities under Section 603.10,
7the court shall modify a parenting plan or allocation judgment
8when necessary to serve the child's best interests if the court
9finds, by a preponderance of the evidence, that on the basis of
10facts that have arisen since the entry of the existing
11parenting plan or allocation judgment or were not anticipated
12therein, a substantial change has occurred in the circumstances
13of the child or of either parent and that a modification is
14necessary to serve the child's best interests.
15    (d) The court shall modify a parenting plan or allocation
16judgment in accordance with a parental agreement, unless it
17finds that the modification is not in the child's best
18interests.
19    (e) The court may modify a parenting plan or allocation
20judgment without a showing of changed circumstances if (i) the
21modification is in the child's best interests; and (ii) any of
22the following are proven as to the modification:
23        (1) the modification reflects the actual arrangement
24    under which the child has been receiving care, without
25    parental objection, for the 6 months preceding the filing
26    of the petition for modification, provided that the

 

 

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1    arrangement is not the result of a parent's acquiescence
2    resulting from circumstances that negated the parent's
3    ability to give meaningful consent;
4        (2) the modification constitutes a minor modification
5    in the parenting plan or allocation judgment;
6        (3) the modification is necessary to modify an agreed
7    parenting plan or allocation judgment that the court would
8    not have ordered or approved under Section 602.5 or 602.7
9    had the court been aware of the circumstances at the time
10    of the order or approval; or
11        (4) the parties agree to the modification.
12    (f) Attorney's fees and costs shall be assessed against a
13party seeking modification if the court finds that the
14modification action is vexatious or constitutes harassment. If
15the court finds that a parent has repeatedly filed frivolous
16motions for modification, the court may bar the parent from
17filing a motion for modification for a period of time.
18(Source: P.A. 99-90, eff. 1-1-16; 99-763, eff. 1-1-17.)