Attorney Jeffery M. Leving co-authored Senate Bill 2827, introduced by Sen. Iris Martinez (D-Chicago), which passed in the Illinois Senate unanimously Tuesday.
This Legislation amends the Illinois Public Aid Code and the Illinois Parentage Act requiring mandatory DNA testing in Paternity Cases with exceptions. Leving said "this provision in the legislation should help prevent paternity fraud."
This legislation also amends the Visitation Interference Criminal Code, making parenting time interference a crime, as well as visitation interference. This will provide non-residential joint custodial parents the same protections afforded to non- custodial parents. This legislation is the first of its kind in Illinois, which is necessary so fathers are not dissuaded from seeking joint custody for fear of not being afforded the same legal protections as non-custodial parents with only visitation rights.