J.S.A. v. M.H.

State: Illinois

Docket No: 101697 Rel

Case Date: 02/01/2007

Preview:Docket No. 101697.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
__________________________ J.S.A. et al., Appellants, v. M.H. et al., Appellees. Opinion filed February 1, 2007.

JUSTICE FREEMAN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Chief Justice Thomas and Justices Kilbride, Garman, Karmeier, and Burke concurred in the judgment and opinion. Justice Fitzgerald took no part in the decision.

OPINION Plaintiff, J.S.A., filed an action in the circuit court of Will County to establish a parent and child relationship with W.T.H. pursuant to the Illinois Parentage Act of 1984 (Parentage Act) (750 ILCS 45/1 et seq. (West 1998)). Thereafter, the mother of W.T.H., M.H., and her husband, W.C.H., filed a petition to adopt W.T.H. pursuant to the Adoption Act (750 ILCS 50/1 et seq. (West 1998)). Both actions proceeded in the circuit court, with M.H. and W.C.H. ultimately filing an interlocutory appeal of certain orders entered by the trial court. The appellate court dismissed the appeal on the basis that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the action. 361 Ill. App. 3d 745. The appellate court held that because J.S.A. failed to register with the Putative Father Registry (750 ILCS 50/12.1 (West 1998)), he was therefore

barred from maintaining his parentage action. As a result, the appellate court declared all orders entered in the parentage action void ab initio. For the reasons that follow, we vacate the judgment of the appellate court and remand this cause to that court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. BACKGROUND As an initial matter, we note that this case has had a tortuous seven-year litigation history. Because the instant appeal is limited to reviewing the appellate court's ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to hear an interlocutory appeal of certain orders entered by the circuit court, we recount only those facts here which are pertinent to the issues raised in the matter before us. J.S.A. and M.H. are attorneys who shared office space together. From 1993 to 1998, J.S.A. and M.H. engaged in an extramarital sexual affair while each was married to other individuals. A male child, W.T.H., was born to M.H. during this affair on January 26, 1996. M.H.'s husband, W.C.H., was listed as W.T.H.'s father on the child's birth certificate. However, in February 1999, after the affair between J.S.A. and M.H. ended, the parties

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