SB0103 EngrossedLRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b 1 AN ACT concerning civil law. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 5. The Adoption Act is amended by changing 5 Sections 2 and 7 as follows: 6 (750 ILCS 50/2) (from Ch. 40, par. 1502) 7 Sec. 2. Who may adopt a child. 8 A. Any of the following persons, who is under no legal 9 disability (except the minority specified in sub-paragraph 10 (b)) and who has resided in the State of Illinois continuously 11 for a period of at least 6 months immediately preceding the 12 commencement of an adoption proceeding, or any member of the 13 armed forces of the United States who has been domiciled in the 14 State of Illinois for 90 days, may institute such proceeding: 15 (a) A reputable person of legal age and of either sex, 16 provided that if such person is married or in a civil union 17 and has not been living separate and apart from his or her 18 spouse or civil union partner for 12 months or longer, his 19 or her spouse or civil union partner shall be a party to 20 the adoption proceeding, including a spouse or civil union 21 partner desiring to adopt a child of the other spouse or 22 civil union partner, in all of which cases the adoption 23 shall be by both spouses or civil union partners jointly; SB0103 Engrossed LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed- 2 -LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed - 2 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed - 2 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b 1 (b) A minor, by leave of court upon good cause shown; . 2 (c) Notwithstanding sub-paragraph (a) of this 3 subsection, a spouse or civil union partner is not 4 required to join in a petition for adoption for the 5 adoption of an adult if a petitioner is a former 6 stepparent of that adult, or to re-adopt a child after an 7 intercountry adoption if the spouse or civil union partner 8 did not previously adopt the child as set forth in 9 subsections (c) and (e) of Section 4.1 of this Act. For 10 purposes of this Section, "former stepparent" means a 11 person who was married to, or in a civil union with, the 12 legal parent of the adult seeking to be adopted, and the 13 marriage or civil union has ended. 14 B. The residence requirement specified in paragraph A of 15 this Section shall not apply to: 16 (a) an adoption of a related child; 17 (a-1) an adoption of a child previously adopted in a 18 foreign country by the petitioner; 19 (b) an adoption of a child placed by an 20 Illinois-licensed child welfare agency performing adoption 21 services; 22 (c) an adoption of an adult by a former stepparent; or 23 (d) an adoption of a child born in this State who has 24 resided continuously in this State since birth, or a child 25 who has continuously resided in this State for at least 6 26 months immediately preceding the commencement of the SB0103 Engrossed - 2 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed- 3 -LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed - 3 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed - 3 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b 1 adoption proceeding, if: 2 (1) an Illinois-licensed child welfare agency 3 performing adoption services has acknowledged a 4 consent or surrender of one or both of the biological 5 or legal parents of the child under this Act and the 6 Child Care Act of 1969; or 7 (2) an authorized person under Section 10 has 8 acknowledged a consent of one or both of the 9 biological or legal parents of the child and an 10 Illinois-licensed child welfare agency performing 11 adoption services has counseled the biological or 12 legal parent or parents of the child as to the birth 13 parent rights and responsibilities under the Child 14 Care Act of 1969 and the rules adopted thereunder. 15 C. A person may commence an adoption proceeding for a 16 youth in care only if the youth in care is placed with the 17 petitioning person or persons by the Department of Children 18 and Family Services at the time the petition is filed, and the 19 Department has provided its consent to the adoption or has 20 otherwise approved the adoption. 21 Nothing in this subsection precludes any rights under 22 Section 15.1 of this Act. The Department shall adopt rules or 23 procedures or both as to what constitutes its approval of the 24 adoption under this subsection. 25 D. Nothing in this Section overrides the requirements 26 contained in Public Act 94-586. SB0103 Engrossed - 3 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed- 4 -LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed - 4 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed - 4 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b 1 (Source: P.A. 102-139, eff. 1-1-22; revised 7-24-24.) 2 (750 ILCS 50/7) (from Ch. 40, par. 1509) 3 Sec. 7. Process. 4 A. All persons named in the petition for adoption or 5 standby adoption, other than the petitioners and any party who 6 has previously either denied being a parent pursuant to 7 Section 12a of this Act or whose rights have been terminated 8 pursuant to Section 12a of this Act or under the Juvenile Court 9 Act of 1987, but including the person sought to be adopted, 10 shall be made parties defendant by name, and if the name or 11 names of any such persons are alleged in the petition to be 12 unknown such persons shall be made parties defendant under the 13 name and style of "All whom it may concern". In all such 14 actions petitioner or his attorney shall file, at the office 15 of the clerk of the court in which the action is pending, an 16 affidavit showing that the defendant resides or has gone out 17 of this State, or on due inquiry cannot be found, or is 18 concealed within this State, so that process cannot be served 19 upon him, and stating the place of residence of the defendant, 20 if known, or that upon diligent inquiry his place of residence 21 cannot be ascertained, the clerk shall cause publication to be 22 made in some newspaper published in the county in which the 23 action is pending. If there is no newspaper published in that 24 county, then the publication shall be in a newspaper published 25 in an adjoining county in this State, having a circulation in SB0103 Engrossed - 4 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed- 5 -LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed - 5 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed - 5 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b 1 the county in which such action is pending. In the event there 2 is service on any of the parties by publication, the 3 publication shall contain notice of pendency of the action, 4 the name of the person to be adopted and the name of the 5 parties to be served by publication, and the date on or after 6 which default may be entered against such parties. Neither the 7 name of petitioners nor the name of any party who has either 8 surrendered said child, has given their consent to the 9 adoption of the child, or whose parental rights have been 10 terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction shall be 11 included in the notice of publication. The Clerk shall also, 12 within 10 ten (10) days of the first publication of the notice, 13 send a copy thereof by mail, addressed to each defendant whose 14 place of residence is stated in such affidavit. The 15 certificate of the Clerk that he sent the copies pursuant to 16 this section is evidence that he has done so. Except as 17 provided in this section pertaining to service by publication, 18 all parties defendant shall be notified of the proceedings in 19 the same manner as is now or may hereafter be required in other 20 civil cases or proceedings, except that service of process 21 need not be directed to a minor defendant under 14 years of age 22 for whom a guardian ad litem has been or will be appointed 23 pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection B of Section 13 of this 24 Act. Nothing in the provisions of the preceding sentence 25 stating that service of process need not be directed to a minor 26 defendant under 14 years of age for whom a guardian ad litem SB0103 Engrossed - 5 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed- 6 -LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed - 6 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed - 6 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b 1 has been or will be appointed is intended to override any 2 provision of this Act which relates to information to which an 3 adopted person is entitled under Section 18.1 of this Act. Any 4 party defendant who is of age of 14 years or upward may waive 5 service of process by entering an appearance in writing. The 6 form to be used for publication shall be substantially as 7 follows: "ADOPTION NOTICE - STATE OF ILLINOIS, County of ...., 8 ss. - Circuit Court of .... County. In the matter of the 9 Petition for the Adoption of ...., a ..male child. Adoption 10 No. ..... To-- .... (whom it may concern or the named parent) 11 Take notice that a petition was filed in the Circuit Court of 12 .... County, Illinois, for the adoption of a child named ..... 13 Now, therefore, unless you ...., and all whom it may concern, 14 file your answer to the Petition in the action or otherwise 15 file your appearance therein, in the said Circuit Court of 16 ...., County, Room ...., ...., in the City of ...., Illinois, 17 on or before the .... day of ...., a default may be entered 18 against you at any time after that day and a judgment entered 19 in accordance with the prayer of said Petition. Dated, ...., 20 Illinois, .... ...., Clerk. (Name and address of attorney for 21 petitioners.) 22 B. A minor defendant who has been served in accordance 23 with this Section may be defaulted in the same manner as any 24 other defendant. 25 C. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this or 26 any other law, and in addition to the notice requirements of SB0103 Engrossed - 6 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed- 7 -LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed - 7 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed - 7 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b 1 any law pertaining to persons other than those specified in 2 this subsection, the persons entitled to notice that a 3 petition has been filed under Section 5 of this Act shall 4 include: 5 (a) any person adjudicated by a court in this State to 6 be the father of the child; 7 (b) any person adjudicated by a court of another state 8 or territory of the United States to be the father of the 9 child, when a certified copy of the court order has been 10 filed with the Putative Father Registry under Section 12.1 11 of this Act; 12 (c) any person who at the time of the filing of the 13 petition is registered in the Putative Father Registry 14 under Section 12.1 of this Act as the putative father of 15 the child; 16 (d) any person who is recorded on the child's birth 17 certificate as the child's parent, unless a court of 18 competent jurisdiction has determined the person is not 19 the parent of the child or has terminated the person's 20 parental rights father; 21 (e) any person who is openly living with the child or 22 the child's mother at the time the proceeding is initiated 23 and who holds out the child as that person's child, unless 24 a court of competent jurisdiction has determined the 25 person is not the parent of the child or has terminated the 26 person's parental rights is holding himself out to be the SB0103 Engrossed - 7 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed- 8 -LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed - 8 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed - 8 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b 1 child's father; 2 (f) any person who has been identified as the child's 3 parent father by the mother in a written, sworn statement, 4 including an Affidavit of Identification as specified 5 under Section 11 of this Act, unless a court of competent 6 jurisdiction has determined the person is not the parent 7 of the child or has terminated the person's parental 8 rights; 9 (g) any person who was married to the child's mother 10 on the date of the child's birth or within 300 days prior 11 to the child's birth, unless a court of competent 12 jurisdiction has determined the person is not the parent 13 of the child or has terminated the person's parental 14 rights. 15 The sole purpose of notice under this Section shall be to 16 enable the person receiving notice to appear in the adoption 17 proceedings to present evidence to the court relevant to 18 whether the consent or surrender of the person to the adoption 19 is required pursuant to Section 8 of this Act. If the court 20 determines that the consent or surrender of the person is not 21 required pursuant to Section 8, then the person shall not be 22 entitled to participate in the proceedings or to any further 23 notice of the proceedings. 24 (Source: P.A. 97-988, eff. 1-1-13.) 25 Section 99. Effective date. This Section and the changes 26 made to Section 2 of the Adoption Act take effect upon becoming SB0103 Engrossed - 8 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed- 9 -LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed - 9 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b SB0103 Engrossed - 9 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b 1 law. SB0103 Engrossed - 9 - LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b