subject: An Insight Into Child Visitation Rights In Illinois [print this page] A fit non-custodial parent is entitled to reasonable visitation rights with his child. Visitation is defined as in-person time, and sometimes electronic communication, between a child and his parent. A parent may not receive his reasonable visitation rights if a court finds, after a hearing, that the visitation would endanger seriously the child's health or well being. Id.
Parents are not the only ones entitled to child visitation rights in Illinois. Grandparents, great-grandparents, and siblings of a minor child who is one-year-old or older all have standing to bring a visitation action in court. In order to file a petition for visitation rights of a minor child, when visitation is being unreasonably denied by a parent, one of the following conditions must also exist: the child's other parent is deceased, a parent of the child is incompetent, the child's parents are divorced, the child is born out of wedlock and his parents are living apart.
In child visitation rights proceedings, there is a rebuttable presumption that a fit parent's actions in regard to petitions for visitation are not harmful to the child. The party moving for visitation with the minor child bears the burden to prove that the parent's denial of visitation is harmful to the child.
When determining whether to award a grandparent, great-grandparent, or sibling visitation rights, the court considers multiple factors, including but not limited to: the child's preference, the child's maturity, mental and physical health of the child, length of the relationship between the child and the party moving for visitation, the good faith of the party in filing the petition for visitation, and where the child resides.
If the court awards visitation rights to the moving party, the visitation may allow overnight or possessory visitation. The court will not modify an order granting child visitation rights unless a change of circumstance for the child occurs. If a change of circumstance occurs, a parent may always petition to modify the child visitation rights in the best interest of the child.
A parent who is deployed or has orders to be deployed as a member of the United States Armed Forces may petition the court to designate a person familiar to the child to exercise substitute visitation on the deployed parent's behalf. As in all other cases, the court must find that this substitute visitation is in the best interest of the child.
A stepparent may also petition the court for visitation with the child. In order for a stepparent to petition the court for visitation, the following conditions must exist: the minor child must be at least 12-years-old, the child must have resided with the parent and stepparent for at least 5 years, the child must desire the visitation, the parent must be unable to care for the child, and the stepparent provided for the child prior to the filing of the petition for visitation rights.
If a parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, sibling, or stepparent of any minor child is convicted of any sexual offense against a minor child, no visitation rights will be granted while the person is incarcerated or on parole. Visitation of the child will be denied until the person successfully completes a court-approved treatment program. 750 ILCS 5/607.
