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90_SB1926 750 ILCS 50/8 from Ch. 40, par. 1510 Amends the Adoption Act. Provides that in situations where a consent or surrender is required before an adoption takes place, the father's consent or surrender is required if the father has timely registered with the Putative Father Registry and has commenced paternity proceedings within 30 days after the birth of the child, rather than within 30 days after registering with the Registry. Effective immediately. LRB9011660SMdv LRB9011660SMdv 1 AN ACT to amend the Adoption Act by changing Section 8. 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 Section 8 as follows: 6 (750 ILCS 50/8) (from Ch. 40, par. 1510) 7 Sec. 8. Consents to adoption and surrenders for purposes 8 of adoption. 9 (a) Except as hereinafter provided in this Section 10 consents or surrenders shall be required in all cases, unless 11 the person whose consent or surrender would otherwise be 12 required shall be found by the court: 13 (1) to be an unfit person as defined in Section 1 14 of this Act, by clear and convincing evidence; or 15 (2) not to be the biological or adoptive father of 16 the child; or 17 (3) to have waived his parental rights to the child 18 under Section 12a or 12.1 of this Act; or 19 (4) to be the parent of an adult sought to be 20 adopted; or 21 (5) to be the father of the child as a result of 22 criminal sexual abuse or assault as defined under Article 23 12 of the Criminal Code of 1961. 24 (b) Where consents are required in the case of an 25 adoption of a minor child, the consents of the following 26 persons shall be sufficient: 27 (1) (A) The mother of the minor child; and 28 (B) The father of the minor child, if the father: 29 (i) was married to the mother on the date of 30 birth of the child or within 300 days before the 31 birth of the child, except for a husband or former -2- LRB9011660SMdv 1 husband who has been found by a court of competent 2 jurisdiction not to be the biological father of the 3 child; or 4 (ii) is the father of the child under a 5 judgment for adoption, an order of parentage, or an 6 acknowledgment of parentage or paternity pursuant to 7 subsection (a) of Section 5 of the Illinois 8 Parentage Act of 1984; or 9 (iii) in the case of a child placed with the 10 adopting parents less than 6 months after birth, 11 openly lived with the child, the child's biological 12 mother, or both, and held himself out to be the 13 child's biological father during the first 30 days 14 following the birth of the child; or 15 (iv) in the case of a child placed with the 16 adopting parents less than 6 months after birth, 17 made a good faith effort to pay a reasonable amount 18 of the expenses related to the birth of the child 19 and to provide a reasonable amount for the financial 20 support of the child before the expiration of 30 21 days following the birth of the child, provided that 22 the court may consider in its determination all 23 relevant circumstances, including the financial 24 condition of both biological parents; or 25 (v) in the case of a child placed with the 26 adopting parents more than 6 months after birth, has 27 maintained substantial and continuous or repeated 28 contact with the child as manifested by: (I) the 29 payment by the father toward the support of the 30 child of a fair and reasonable sum, according to the 31 father's means, and either (II) the father's 32 visiting the child at least monthly when physically 33 and financially able to do so and not prevented from 34 doing so by the person or authorized agency having -3- LRB9011660SMdv 1 lawful custody of the child, or (III) the father's 2 regular communication with the child or with the 3 person or agency having the care or custody of the 4 child, when physically and financially unable to 5 visit the child or prevented from doing so by the 6 person or authorized agency having lawful custody of 7 the child. The subjective intent of the father, 8 whether expressed or otherwise unsupported by 9 evidence of acts specified in this sub-paragraph as 10 manifesting such intent, shall not preclude a 11 determination that the father failed to maintain 12 substantial and continuous or repeated contact with 13 the child; or 14 (vi) in the case of a child placed with the 15 adopting parents more than six months after birth, 16 openly lived with the child for a period of six 17 months within the one year period immediately 18 preceding the placement of the child for adoption 19 and openly held himself out to be the father of the 20 child; or 21 (vii) has timely registered with the Putative 22 Father Registry, as provided in Section 12.1 of this 23 Act, and prior to the expiration of the time limits 24 for registering under subsection (b) of that Section 2530 days from the date of such registration, 26 commenced legal proceedings to establish paternity 27 under the Illinois Parentage Act of 1984 or under 28 the law of the jurisdiction of the child's birth; or 29 (2) The legal guardian of the person of the child, 30 if there is no surviving parent; or 31 (3) An agency, if the child has been surrendered 32 for adoption to such agency; or 33 (4) Any person or agency having legal custody of a 34 child by court order if the parental rights of the -4- LRB9011660SMdv 1 parents have been judicially terminated, and the court 2 having jurisdiction of the guardianship of the child has 3 authorized the consent to the adoption; or 4 (5) The execution and verification of the petition 5 by any petitioner who is also a parent of the child 6 sought to be adopted shall be sufficient evidence of such 7 parent's consent to the adoption. 8 (c) Where surrenders to an agency are required in the 9 case of a placement for adoption of a minor child by an 10 agency, the surrenders of the following persons shall be 11 sufficient: 12 (1) (A) The mother of the minor child; and 13 (B) The father of the minor child, if the father; 14 (i) was married to the mother on the date of 15 birth of the child or within 300 days before the 16 birth of the child, except for a husband or former 17 husband who has been found by a court of competent 18 jurisdiction not to be the biological father of the 19 child; or 20 (ii) is the father of the child under a 21 judgment for adoption, an order of parentage, or an 22 acknowledgment of parentage or paternity pursuant to 23 subsection (a) of Section 5 of the Illinois 24 Parentage Act of 1984; or 25 (iii) in the case of a child placed with the 26 adopting parents less than 6 months after birth, 27 openly lived with the child, the child's biological 28 mother, or both, and held himself out to be the 29 child's biological father during the first 30 days 30 following the birth of a child; or 31 (iv) in the case of a child placed with the 32 adopting parents less than 6 months after birth, 33 made a good faith effort to pay a reasonable amount 34 of the expenses related to the birth of the child -5- LRB9011660SMdv 1 and to provide a reasonable amount for the financial 2 support of the child before the expiration of 30 3 days following the birth of the child, provided that 4 the court may consider in its determination all 5 relevant circumstances, including the financial 6 condition of both biological parents; or 7 (v) in the case of a child placed with the 8 adopting parents more than six months after birth, 9 has maintained substantial and continuous or 10 repeated contact with the child as manifested by: 11 (I) the payment by the father toward the support of 12 the child of a fair and reasonable sum, according to 13 the father's means, and either (II) the father's 14 visiting the child at least monthly when physically 15 and financially able to do so and not prevented from 16 doing so by the person or authorized agency having 17 lawful custody of the child or (III) the father's 18 regular communication with the child or with the 19 person or agency having the care or custody of the 20 child, when physically and financially unable to 21 visit the child or prevented from doing so by the 22 person or authorized agency having lawful custody of 23 the child. The subjective intent of the father, 24 whether expressed or otherwise, unsupported by 25 evidence of acts specified in this sub-paragraph as 26 manifesting such intent, shall not preclude a 27 determination that the father failed to maintain 28 substantial and continuous or repeated contact with 29 the child; or 30 (vi) in the case of a child placed with the 31 adopting parents more than six months after birth, 32 openly lived with the child for a period of six 33 months within the one year period immediately 34 preceding the placement of the child for adoption -6- LRB9011660SMdv 1 and openly held himself out to be the father of the 2 child; or 3 (vii) has timely registered with the Putative 4 Father Registry, as provided in Section 12.1 of this 5 Act, and prior to the expiration of the time limits 6 for registering under subsection (b) of that Section 730 days from the date of such registration, 8 commenced legal proceedings to establish paternity 9 under the Illinois Parentage Act of 1984, or under 10 the law of the jurisdiction of the child's birth. 11 (d) In making a determination under subparagraphs (b) 12 (1) and (c) (1), no showing shall be required of diligent 13 efforts by a person or agency to encourage the father to 14 perform the acts specified therein. 15 (e) In the case of the adoption of an adult, only the 16 consent of such adult shall be required. 17 (Source: P.A. 89-315, eff. 1-1-96; 89-641, eff. 8-9-96; 18 90-15, eff. 6-13-97.) 19 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 20 becoming law.