Proposed Law would state that equal parenting (shared custody) time is presumptively in children's best interests
House Bill 4113 / HB-4113
STATUS 1/20/18: Looks like the bill has been placed into the hands of the Rules Committee. There have about 19-20 co-sponsors to the bill and there was a hearing on the bill in mid-January 2018.
There is a major change being proposed to address the battle
of "traditional" custody (alternating weekends parenting time) vs. a
presumption of equal parenting time - all with such a slight re-arrangement of
words. Right now there really is no presumption one way or another although
many believe that no presumption for equal parenting time is a presumption
against it. I don’t really follow that line of thinking but I agree there is a
problem to be addressed – just not this way (using a presumption).
With 20 years of practicing family law and seeing
presumptions come and go, I think a presumption in any direction is instituting
a hurdle that shouldn't be there. A presumption in any form puts its fingers on
the scale - many times at the expense of children's best interests and in
certain other circumstances - at the encouragement of financial or other abuse.If judges are the problem, this is not the solution - certainly not as drafted!
How about some factors in there....
1) how close do the parties live together
2) what is the pre-divorce filing pattern of care for children,
3) what is the current pattern of care?
4) degree of party cooperation on children's issues both pre and post filing
5) financial ability for two households to be supported on the parties incomes after support is paid.... and I'm sure a few more are needed.
Overall, shared custody is not a panacea - it fixes one
problem but invites a whole new set of problems.
Below is a summary of the proposed law available at theState Assembly websiteAmends the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. To the list of purposes of the Act, adds recognizing that the involvement of each parent for equal time is presumptively in the children's best interests. Deletes language providing that nothing in the Act requires that each parent be allocated decision-making responsibilities. Provides that it is presumed that it is in the child's best interests to award equal time to each parent. Provides that it is presumed that both parents are fit and the court shall not place any restrictions on parenting time unless it finds by clear and convincing evidence (instead of a preponderance of the evidence) that a parent's exercise of parenting time would seriously endanger the child's physical, mental, moral, or emotional health. In specified situations, requires the court to issue a written decision stating its specific findings of fact and conclusions of law in support of its ruling. Provides that the court may restrict or modify parental responsibilities after a showing of clear and convincing evidence (instead of a preponderance of the evidence) that the restriction or modification is warranted.