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90_SB1259
735 ILCS 5/2-1401 from Ch. 110, par. 2-1401
Amends the Code of Civil Procedure. Provides that a
petition for relief from any judgment establishing a parent
and child relationship may be filed at any time to declare
the non-existence of the parent and child relationship by a
man adjudicated to be the father. Provides that an affidavit
shall be attached to the petition stating either (1) that the
parties have submitted to DNA tests and that the results of
those tests show that there is a reasonable probability that
the plaintiff is not the parent of the child, with a report
containing the results of the test attached, or (2) that the
affiant is willing to submit to and pay for DNA tests, but
that the natural mother or the child has refused to submit to
such test. Provides that if, as a result of the DNA tests
the plaintiff is determined not to be the father of the
child, the adjudication of paternity and any orders regarding
custody, visitation, and future payments of support shall be
vacated. Bars actions in cases in which the paternity of the
petitioner has previously been established by a DNA test.
Effective immediately.
LRB9008459SMdvA
LRB9008459SMdvA
1 AN ACT to amend the Code of Civil Procedure by changing
2 Section 2-1401.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by
6 changing Section 2-1401 as follows:
7 (735 ILCS 5/2-1401) (from Ch. 110, par. 2-1401)
8 Sec. 2-1401. Relief from judgments.
9 (a) Relief from final orders and judgments, after 30
10 days from the entry thereof, may be had upon petition as
11 provided in this Section. Writs of error coram nobis and
12 coram vobis, bills of review and bills in the nature of bills
13 of review are abolished. All relief heretofore obtainable
14 and the grounds for such relief heretofore available, whether
15 by any of the foregoing remedies or otherwise, shall be
16 available in every case, by proceedings hereunder, regardless
17 of the nature of the order or judgment from which relief is
18 sought or of the proceedings in which it was entered. Except
19 as provided in Section 6 of the Illinois Parentage Act of
20 1984, there shall be no distinction between actions and other
21 proceedings, statutory or otherwise, as to availability of
22 relief, grounds for relief or the relief obtainable.
23 (b) The petition must be filed in the same proceeding in
24 which the order or judgment was entered but is not a
25 continuation thereof. The petition must be supported by
26 affidavit or other appropriate showing as to matters not of
27 record. All parties to the petition shall be notified as
28 provided by rule.
29 (c) Except as provided in Section 20b of the Adoption
30 Act, and Section 3-32 of the Juvenile Court Act of 1987, or
31 in a petition based upon Section 116-3 of the Code of
-2- LRB9008459SMdvA
1 Criminal Procedure of 1963, or subsection (c-5) of this
2 Section, the petition must be filed not later than 2 years
3 after the entry of the order or judgment. Time during which
4 the person seeking relief is under legal disability or duress
5 or the ground for relief is fraudulently concealed shall be
6 excluded in computing the period of 2 years.
7 (c-5) A petition for relief from any judgment
8 establishing a parent and child relationship may be filed at
9 any time by a man adjudicated to be the father to declare the
10 non-existence of the parent and child relationship. The
11 action shall be initiated by the filing of an affidavit by
12 the plaintiff's attorney or by the plaintiff, if the
13 plaintiff is proceeding pro se, attached to the petition for
14 relief declaring one of the following:
15 (1) That the affiant, the natural mother, and the
16 child have submitted to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests
17 to determine inherited characteristics, and that the
18 results of those tests show that there is a reasonable
19 probability that the plaintiff is not the parent of the
20 child. A copy of a written report, clearly identifying
21 the parties to the action and the results of the tests,
22 must be attached to the affidavit.
23 (2) That the affiant is willing to pay for and
24 submit to a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test and to pay
25 for the tests for the natural mother and the child, but
26 that the natural mother has refused to submit to such
27 test either on behalf of herself or on behalf of the
28 minor child or that the child has refused to submit to
29 such test.
30 If, as a result of the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests
31 the plaintiff is determined not to be the father of the
32 child, the adjudication of paternity and any orders regarding
33 custody, visitation, and future payments of support shall be
34 vacated.
-3- LRB9008459SMdvA
1 It shall be a bar to a cause of action under this
2 subsection (c-5) that deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests have
3 previously been performed and the results of those tests show
4 that there is a reasonable probability that the plaintiff is
5 the parent of the child.
6 (d) The filing of a petition under this Section does not
7 affect the order or judgment, or suspend its operation.
8 (e) Unless lack of jurisdiction affirmatively appears
9 from the record proper, the vacation or modification of an
10 order or judgment pursuant to the provisions of this Section
11 does not affect the right, title or interest in or to any
12 real or personal property of any person, not a party to the
13 original action, acquired for value after the entry of the
14 order or judgment but before the filing of the petition, nor
15 affect any right of any person not a party to the original
16 action under any certificate of sale issued before the filing
17 of the petition, pursuant to a sale based on the order or
18 judgment.
19 (f) Nothing contained in this Section affects any
20 existing right to relief from a void order or judgment, or to
21 employ any existing method to procure that relief.
22 (Source: P.A. 90-18, eff. 7-1-97; 90-27, eff. 1-1-98; 90-141,
23 eff. 1-1-98; revised 8-4-97.)
24 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
25 becoming law.
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