Illinois General Assembly - Illinois Compiled Statutes

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750 ILCS 50/7

(750 ILCS 50/7) (from Ch. 40, par. 1509)

Sec. 7. Process.

A. All persons named in the petition for adoption or standby adoption,
other
than the
petitioners and any party who has previously either denied being a parent
pursuant to Section 12a of this Act or whose rights have been terminated
pursuant to Section 12a of this Act, but including the person sought to be
adopted, shall be made parties defendant by name, and if the name or names
of any such persons are alleged in the petition to be unknown such persons
shall be made parties defendant under the name and style of "All whom it
may concern". In all such actions petitioner or his attorney
shall file, at
the office of the clerk of the court in which the action is pending, an
affidavit showing that the defendant resides or has gone out of this State,
or on due inquiry cannot be found, or is concealed within this State, so
that process cannot be served upon him, and stating the place of residence
of the defendant, if known, or that upon diligent inquiry his place of
residence cannot be ascertained, the clerk shall cause publication to be
made in some newspaper published in the county in which the action is
pending. If there is no newspaper published in that county, then the
publication shall be in a newspaper published in an adjoining county in
this State, having a circulation in the county in which such action is
pending. In the event there is service on any of the parties by
publication, the publication shall contain notice of pendency of the
action, the name of the person to be adopted and the name of the parties to
be served by publication, and the date on or after which default may be
entered against such parties. Neither the name of petitioners nor the name
of any party who has either surrendered said child, has given their consent
to the adoption of the child, or whose parental rights have been terminated
by a court of competent jurisdiction shall be included in the notice of
publication. The Clerk shall also, within ten (10) days of the first
publication of the notice, send a copy thereof by mail, addressed to each
defendant whose place of residence is stated in such affidavit. The
certificate of the Clerk that he sent the copies pursuant to this section
is evidence that he has done so. Except as provided in this section
pertaining to service by publication, all parties defendant shall be
notified of the proceedings in the same manner as is now or may hereafter
be required in other civil cases or proceedings, except that service of process need not be directed to a minor defendant under 14 years of age for whom a guardian ad litem has been or will be appointed pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection B of Section 13 of this Act. Nothing in the provisions of the preceding sentence stating that service of process need not be directed to a minor defendant under 14 years of age for whom a guardian ad litem has been or will be appointed is intended to override any provision of this Act which relates to information to which an adopted person is entitled under Section 18.1 of this Act. Any party defendant who is
of age of 14 years or upward may waive service of process by entering an
appearance in writing. The form to be used for publication shall be
substantially as follows:
"ADOPTION NOTICE - STATE OF ILLINOIS, County of ...., ss. - Circuit Court
of .... County. In the matter of the Petition for the Adoption of ...., a
..male child. Adoption No. .....
To-- .... (whom it may concern or the named parent)
Take notice that a petition was filed in the Circuit Court of .... County,
Illinois, for the adoption of a child named ..... Now, therefore, unless
you ...., and all whom it may concern, file your answer to the Petition in
the action or otherwise file your appearance therein,
in the said Circuit
Court of ...., County, Room ...., ...., in the City of ...., Illinois, on
or before the .... day of ...., a default may be entered against you at any
time after that day and a judgment entered in accordance with the prayer of
said Petition.
Dated, ...., Illinois, .... ...., Clerk.
(Name and address of attorney for petitioners.)

B. A minor defendant who has been served in accordance with this Section
may be defaulted in the same manner as any other defendant.

C. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this or any other law,
and in addition to the notice requirements of any law pertaining to persons
other than those specified in this subsection, the persons entitled to notice
that a petition has been filed under Section 5 of this Act shall include:

(a) any person adjudicated by a court in this State

to be the father of the child;

(b) any person adjudicated by a court of another

state or territory of the United States to be the father of the child, when a certified copy of the court order has been filed with the Putative Father Registry under Section 12.1 of this Act;

(c) any person who at the time of the filing of the

petition is registered in the Putative Father Registry under Section 12.1 of this Act as the putative father of the child;

(d) any person who is recorded on the child's birth

certificate as the child's father;

(e) any person who is openly living with the child or

the child's mother at the time the proceeding is initiated and who is holding himself out to be the child's father;

(f) any person who has been identified as the child's

father by the mother in a written, sworn statement, including an Affidavit of Identification as specified under Section 11 of this Act;

(g) any person who was married to the child's mother

on the date of the child's birth or within 300 days prior to the child's birth.

The sole purpose of notice under this Section shall be to enable the person
receiving notice to appear in the adoption proceedings to present evidence to
the court relevant to whether the consent or surrender of the person to the adoption is required pursuant to Section 8 of this Act.  If the court determines that the consent or surrender of the person is not required pursuant to Section 8, then the person shall not be entitled to participate in the proceedings or to any further notice of the proceedings.

(Source: P.A. 97-988, eff. 1-1-13.)