104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
SB0103

 

Introduced 1/17/2025, by Sen. Sara Feigenholtz

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
750 ILCS 50/2  from Ch. 40, par. 1502
750 ILCS 50/7  from Ch. 40, par. 1509

    Amends the Adoption Act. Provides that a person may commence an adoption proceeding for a youth in care only if the youth in care is placed with the petitioning person or persons by the Department of Children and Family Services at the time the petition is filed, and the Department has provided its consent to the adoption or has otherwise approved the adoption. Requires the Department to adopt rules or procedures or both as to what constitutes its approval of the adoption. Provides that a person whose rights have been terminated under the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 does not have to be made a defendant in a petition for adoption. Provides that the following persons must be given notice of a petition for adoption unless the person has been determined not to be a parent of the child or has had parental rights terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction: (i) any person who is recorded on the child's birth certificate as the child's parent; (ii) any person who is openly living with the child or the child's mother at the time the proceeding is initiated and holds out the child as that person's child; (iii) any person who has been identified as the child's parent by the mother in a written, sworn statement, including an Affidavit of Identification; or (iv) any person who was married to the child's mother on the date of the child's birth or within 300 days before the child's birth, unless that person has been determined not to be the parent of the child or has had parental rights terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction.


LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

SB0103LRB104 05884 JRC 15915 b

1    AN ACT concerning civil law.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Adoption Act is amended by changing
5Sections 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
9disability (except the minority specified in sub-paragraph
10(b)) and who has resided in the State of Illinois continuously
11for a period of at least 6 months immediately preceding the
12commencement of an adoption proceeding, or any member of the
13armed forces of the United States who has been domiciled in the
14State 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;

 

 

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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
15this 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

 

 

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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
16youth in care only if the youth in care is placed with the
17petitioning person or persons by the Department of Children
18and Family Services at the time the petition is filed, and the
19Department has provided its consent to the adoption or has
20otherwise approved the adoption.
21    The Department shall adopt rules or procedures or both as
22to what constitutes its approval of the adoption under this
23subsection.
24    D. Nothing in this Section overrides the requirements
25contained in Public Act 94-586.
26(Source: P.A. 102-139, eff. 1-1-22; revised 7-24-24.)
 

 

 

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1    (750 ILCS 50/7)  (from Ch. 40, par. 1509)
2    Sec. 7. Process.
3    A. All persons named in the petition for adoption or
4standby adoption, other than the petitioners and any party who
5has previously either denied being a parent pursuant to
6Section 12a of this Act or whose rights have been terminated
7pursuant to Section 12a of this Act or under the Juvenile Court
8Act of 1987, but including the person sought to be adopted,
9shall be made parties defendant by name, and if the name or
10names of any such persons are alleged in the petition to be
11unknown such persons shall be made parties defendant under the
12name and style of "All whom it may concern". In all such
13actions petitioner or his attorney shall file, at the office
14of the clerk of the court in which the action is pending, an
15affidavit showing that the defendant resides or has gone out
16of this State, or on due inquiry cannot be found, or is
17concealed within this State, so that process cannot be served
18upon him, and stating the place of residence of the defendant,
19if known, or that upon diligent inquiry his place of residence
20cannot be ascertained, the clerk shall cause publication to be
21made in some newspaper published in the county in which the
22action is pending. If there is no newspaper published in that
23county, then the publication shall be in a newspaper published
24in an adjoining county in this State, having a circulation in
25the county in which such action is pending. In the event there

 

 

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1is service on any of the parties by publication, the
2publication shall contain notice of pendency of the action,
3the name of the person to be adopted and the name of the
4parties to be served by publication, and the date on or after
5which default may be entered against such parties. Neither the
6name of petitioners nor the name of any party who has either
7surrendered said child, has given their consent to the
8adoption of the child, or whose parental rights have been
9terminated by a court of competent jurisdiction shall be
10included in the notice of publication. The Clerk shall also,
11within 10 ten (10) days of the first publication of the notice,
12send a copy thereof by mail, addressed to each defendant whose
13place of residence is stated in such affidavit. The
14certificate of the Clerk that he sent the copies pursuant to
15this section is evidence that he has done so. Except as
16provided in this section pertaining to service by publication,
17all parties defendant shall be notified of the proceedings in
18the same manner as is now or may hereafter be required in other
19civil cases or proceedings, except that service of process
20need not be directed to a minor defendant under 14 years of age
21for whom a guardian ad litem has been or will be appointed
22pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection B of Section 13 of this
23Act. Nothing in the provisions of the preceding sentence
24stating that service of process need not be directed to a minor
25defendant under 14 years of age for whom a guardian ad litem
26has been or will be appointed is intended to override any

 

 

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1provision of this Act which relates to information to which an
2adopted person is entitled under Section 18.1 of this Act. Any
3party defendant who is of age of 14 years or upward may waive
4service of process by entering an appearance in writing. The
5form to be used for publication shall be substantially as
6follows: "ADOPTION NOTICE - STATE OF ILLINOIS, County of ....,
7ss. - Circuit Court of .... County. In the matter of the
8Petition for the Adoption of ...., a ..male child. Adoption
9No. ..... To-- .... (whom it may concern or the named parent)
10Take notice that a petition was filed in the Circuit Court of
11.... County, Illinois, for the adoption of a child named .....
12Now, therefore, unless you ...., and all whom it may concern,
13file your answer to the Petition in the action or otherwise
14file your appearance therein, in the said Circuit Court of
15...., County, Room ...., ...., in the City of ...., Illinois,
16on or before the .... day of ...., a default may be entered
17against you at any time after that day and a judgment entered
18in accordance with the prayer of said Petition. Dated, ....,
19Illinois, .... ...., Clerk. (Name and address of attorney for
20petitioners.)
21    B. A minor defendant who has been served in accordance
22with this Section may be defaulted in the same manner as any
23other defendant.
24    C. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this or
25any other law, and in addition to the notice requirements of
26any law pertaining to persons other than those specified in

 

 

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1this subsection, the persons entitled to notice that a
2petition has been filed under Section 5 of this Act shall
3include:
4        (a) any person adjudicated by a court in this State to
5    be the father of the child;
6        (b) any person adjudicated by a court of another state
7    or territory of the United States to be the father of the
8    child, when a certified copy of the court order has been
9    filed with the Putative Father Registry under Section 12.1
10    of this Act;
11        (c) any person who at the time of the filing of the
12    petition is registered in the Putative Father Registry
13    under Section 12.1 of this Act as the putative father of
14    the child;
15        (d) any person who is recorded on the child's birth
16    certificate as the child's parent, unless that person has
17    been determined not to be the parent of the child or has
18    had parental rights terminated by a court of competent
19    jurisdiction father;
20        (e) any person who is openly living with the child or
21    the child's mother at the time the proceeding is initiated
22    and who holds out the child as that person's child unless
23    that person has been determined not to be the parent of the
24    child or has had parental rights terminated by a court of
25    competent jurisdiction is holding himself out to be the
26    child's father;

 

 

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1        (f) any person who has been identified as the child's
2    parent father by the mother in a written, sworn statement,
3    including an Affidavit of Identification as specified
4    under Section 11 of this Act, unless that person has been
5    determined not to be the parent of the child or has had
6    parental rights terminated by a court of competent
7    jurisdiction;
8        (g) any person who was married to the child's mother
9    on the date of the child's birth or within 300 days prior
10    to the child's birth, unless that person has been
11    determined not to be the parent of the child or has had
12    parental rights terminated by a court of competent
13    jurisdiction.
14    The sole purpose of notice under this Section shall be to
15enable the person receiving notice to appear in the adoption
16proceedings to present evidence to the court relevant to
17whether the consent or surrender of the person to the adoption
18is required pursuant to Section 8 of this Act. If the court
19determines that the consent or surrender of the person is not
20required pursuant to Section 8, then the person shall not be
21entitled to participate in the proceedings or to any further
22notice of the proceedings.
23(Source: P.A. 97-988, eff. 1-1-13.)