State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
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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
25             30  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
 7             30  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.

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