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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 Section | |||||||||||||||||||
5 | 15 as follows: | |||||||||||||||||||
6 | (750 ILCS 50/15) (from Ch. 40, par. 1519) | |||||||||||||||||||
7 | Sec. 15. | |||||||||||||||||||
8 | (a) The welfare of the child shall be the prime | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | consideration in all adoption proceedings. The court in | |||||||||||||||||||
10 | entering a judgment of adoption shall, whenever possible, give | |||||||||||||||||||
11 | custody through adoption to a petitioner or petitioners of the | |||||||||||||||||||
12 | same religious belief as that of the child. | |||||||||||||||||||
13 | (b) It is the public policy of this State to favor adoption | |||||||||||||||||||
14 | of a child by a relative unless it is shown by clear and | |||||||||||||||||||
15 | convincing evidence that any such adoption would be harmful to | |||||||||||||||||||
16 | the welfare of the child. | |||||||||||||||||||
17 | (c) Whenever a child is to be placed for adoption, any | |||||||||||||||||||
18 | relative who wishes to adopt the child, and who is not already | |||||||||||||||||||
19 | a party to the adoption proceeding, upon presentation of a | |||||||||||||||||||
20 | written or oral motion to intervene shall be made a party to | |||||||||||||||||||
21 | the adoption proceeding, except that no one who becomes a | |||||||||||||||||||
22 | party under this subsection may exercise the rights granted by | |||||||||||||||||||
23 | Section 2-1001 of the Code of Civil Procedure. |
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1 | (d) When there is a grandparent who wishes to adopt, the | ||||||
2 | court shall place the child with the Grandparent or | ||||||
3 | grandparents, unless, after an evidentiary hearing, the court | ||||||
4 | makes an express finding, based on clear and convincing | ||||||
5 | evidence, that placement with a grandparent would be harmful | ||||||
6 | to the child's welfare. | ||||||
7 | (e) When there is an adult sibling who wishes to adopt, the | ||||||
8 | court shall place the child with the adult sibling, unless, | ||||||
9 | after an evidentiary hearing, the court makes an express | ||||||
10 | finding, based on clear and convincing evidence, that | ||||||
11 | placement with a sibling would be harmful to the child's | ||||||
12 | welfare. | ||||||
13 | (f) When no grandparent or older sibling is available, | ||||||
14 | then, whenever there is an aunt or uncle who wishes to adopt, | ||||||
15 | the court shall place the child with an aunt or uncle or both, | ||||||
16 | unless, after an evidentiary hearing, the court makes an | ||||||
17 | express finding, based on clear and convincing evidence, that | ||||||
18 | placement with an aunt or uncle or both would be harmful to the | ||||||
19 | child's welfare. | ||||||
20 | (g) When no grandparent, older sibling, aunt or uncle is | ||||||
21 | available, then, whenever there is a cousin who wishes to | ||||||
22 | adopt, the court shall place the child with a cousin or | ||||||
23 | cousins, unless, after an evidentiary hearing, the court makes | ||||||
24 | an express finding, based on clear and convincing evidence, | ||||||
25 | that placement with a cousin or cousins would be harmful to the | ||||||
26 | child's welfare. |
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1 | (h) When no grandparent, older sibling, aunt, uncle or | ||||||
2 | cousin is available, then, whenever there is a relative who | ||||||
3 | wishes to adopt, the court shall place the child with a | ||||||
4 | relative or relatives, unless, after an evidentiary hearing, | ||||||
5 | the court makes an express finding, based on clear and | ||||||
6 | convincing evidence, that placement with a relative would be | ||||||
7 | harmful to the child's welfare. | ||||||
8 | (i) A grandparent, older sibling, aunt, uncle or cousin | ||||||
9 | may waive his or her right to adopt a child conditioned on that | ||||||
10 | child's being adopted by some other designated relative. If | ||||||
11 | that designated relative fails to adopt the child, or if that | ||||||
12 | designated relative does adopt the child and his or her | ||||||
13 | parental rights to that child are subsequently terminated, | ||||||
14 | then the rights waived under this subsection may be | ||||||
15 | reasserted. No relative may waive and subsequently reassert | ||||||
16 | rights in this manner more than twice, in any given adoption | ||||||
17 | proceeding. | ||||||
18 | (j) The court, on motion of any party, or on its own | ||||||
19 | motion, may enter an order requiring any relative who wishes | ||||||
20 | to conditionally waive adoption rights under subsection (i), | ||||||
21 | to name the designated relative or relatives within a certain | ||||||
22 | amount of time, which may not be less than 30 days after being | ||||||
23 | made a party to the adoption proceeding. | ||||||
24 | (Source: P.A. 84-452.) |