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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
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;
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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
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
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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
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.
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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
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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
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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
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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 who at the time of the filing of the
6 petition is adjudicated by a court in this State to be the
7 father of the child, unless a court of competent
8 jurisdiction has terminated the person's parental rights;
9 (b) any person who at the time of the filing of the
10 petition is adjudicated by a court of another state or
11 territory of the United States to be the father of the
12 child, when a certified copy of the court order has been
13 filed with the Putative Father Registry under Section 12.1
14 of this Act, unless a court of competent jurisdiction has
15 terminated the person's parental rights;
16 (c) any person who at the time of the filing of the
17 petition is registered in the Putative Father Registry
18 under Section 12.1 of this Act as the putative father of
19 the child, unless a court of competent jurisdiction has
20 determined that the person is not the parent of the child
21 or has terminated the person's parental rights;
22 (d) any person who is recorded on the child's birth
23 certificate as the child's parent, unless a court of
24 competent jurisdiction has determined the person is not
25 the parent of the child or has terminated the person's
26 parental rights father;
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1 (e) any person who is openly living with the child or
2 the child's mother at the time the proceeding is initiated
3 and who holds out the child as that person's child, unless
4 a court of competent jurisdiction has determined the
5 person is not the parent of the child or has terminated the
6 person's parental rights is holding himself out to be the
7 child's father;
8 (f) any person who has been identified as the child's
9 parent father by the mother in a written, sworn statement,
10 including an Affidavit of Identification as specified
11 under Section 11 of this Act, 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 (g) any person who was married to the child's mother
16 on the date of the child's birth or within 300 days prior
17 to the child's birth, unless a court of competent
18 jurisdiction has determined the person is not the parent
19 of the child or has terminated the person's parental
20 rights.
21 The sole purpose of notice under this Section shall be to
22 enable the person receiving notice to appear in the adoption
23 proceedings to present evidence to the court relevant to
24 whether the consent or surrender of the person to the adoption
25 is required pursuant to Section 8 of this Act. If the court
26 determines that the consent or surrender of the person is not
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1 required pursuant to Section 8, then the person shall not be
2 entitled to participate in the proceedings or to any further
3 notice of the proceedings.
4 (Source: P.A. 97-988, eff. 1-1-13.)
5 Section 98. Applicability. This Act applies only to
6 petitions filed on or after its effective date.
7 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect January
8 1, 2026.Every fact on this page links to its source, starting with the official bill record.