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Illinois Compiled Statutes

Information maintained by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Updating the database of the Illinois Compiled Statutes (ILCS) is an ongoing process. Recent laws may not yet be included in the ILCS database, but they are found on this site as Public Acts soon after they become law. For information concerning the relationship between statutes and Public Acts, refer to the Guide.

Because the statute database is maintained primarily for legislative drafting purposes, statutory changes are sometimes included in the statute database before they take effect. If the source note at the end of a Section of the statutes includes a Public Act that has not yet taken effect, the version of the law that is currently in effect may have already been removed from the database and you should refer to that Public Act to see the changes made to the current law.

FAMILIES
(750 ILCS 5/) Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act.

750 ILCS 5/220

    (750 ILCS 5/220)
    Sec. 220. Consent to jurisdiction. Members of a same-sex couple who enter into a marriage in this State consent to the jurisdiction of the courts of this State for the purpose of any action relating to the marriage, even if one or both parties cease to reside in this State. A court shall enter a judgment of dissolution of marriage if, at the time the action is commenced, it meets the grounds for dissolution of marriage set forth in this Act.
(Source: P.A. 98-597, eff. 6-1-14; 99-78, eff. 7-20-15.)

750 ILCS 5/221

    (750 ILCS 5/221)
    Sec. 221. Name change on marriage certificate. For a person married in any county in this State, the county clerk shall issue a new marriage certificate when it receives legal documentation indicating that one of the parties listed on the certificate has legally changed names. An order for name change issued pursuant to Section 21-101 of the Code of Civil Procedure shall be the only legal documentation that a county clerk may require. The new marriage certificate shall reflect the legal name change and shall bear no additional markings.
(Source: P.A. 102-169, eff. 7-27-21; 102-813, eff. 5-13-22.)

750 ILCS 5/222

    (750 ILCS 5/222)
    Sec. 222. Request for changing or removing gender identifying language on a marriage certificate.
    (a) Upon completion of an affidavit provided by the county clerk and confirmation of identity, a person, still currently married, may request a certificate of the person's current marriage free of any gender identifying language. The person may request a change from terms such as "bride" and "groom" to a nongendered term such as "spouse" or a variant of "Spouse 1" or "Spouse A". Upon such request, both parties shall be listed with a nongendered identifier on a certificate. The request shall not permanently change the gender identifying language in the clerk's records, and the affidavit and issuance shall be kept in the permanent records of the clerk.
    The affidavit shall be created by the county clerk, may appear on a combined form with the form under subsection (b), and shall be substantially as follows:
REQUEST FOR NONGENDERED COPY OF A MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE

        I, .........., state that I am a named spouse on a
    
marriage license held in this office, that I am still married to the other named spouse on that marriage license as of the date of this request, and hereby request the holder of this record provide me, and only me, with a marriage certificate with any gender-identifying language removed or changed to "spouse". I affirm that this change is for purposes of this certified copy, the change will not be made to permanent records, and a record of this request shall be held by the holder of this marriage record.
    Date..........
    Signature..........
    (b) If 2 parties currently married request a marriage certificate with gender identifiers changed, such as "bride" to "groom" or "groom" to "bride", both parties shall appear before the clerk, indicate consent, and complete an affidavit. If the clerk is technologically able and the parties desire, the change in gender is permanent.
    The affidavit shall be created by the county clerk, may appear on a combined form with the form under subsection (a), and shall be substantially as follows:
REQUEST FOR NONGENDERED COPY OF A MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE

        We, ..........[Spouse A] and ..........[Spouse B],
    
the still-married named persons on a marriage license held in this office as of the date of this request, hereby request the holder of this record to provide a marriage certificate with gender-identifying terms such as "bride" and "groom" changed as follows:
        ..........[Name of Spouse A] Bride, Groom, or Spouse
    
(select one).
        ..........[Name of Spouse B] Bride, Groom, or Spouse
    
(select one).
        We affirm that this change is for purposes of this
    
certified copy, and the change will not be made to permanent records, unless indicated by selecting Yes or No (select one) and a record of this request shall be held by the holder of this marriage record.
    Date..........
    Signature of Spouse A..........
    Signature of Spouse B..........
    (c) If a county provides a certified record, photocopy, or reproduction of an original record in lieu of a summary data sheet, the county clerk shall work with the Department of Public Health to develop a new certificate that can be issued in lieu of a reproduction of the prior record. Nothing in this subsection authorizes the county clerk to permanently mark or deface a prior record in lieu of a summary data sheet certificate.
    (d) When a clerk issues a nongendered marriage certificate under subsection (a), the certificate shall not include any language indicating it has been amended nor that it is not a true and accurate record of the facts stated therein.
(Source: P.A. 102-171, eff. 1-1-22; 102-813, eff. 5-13-22.)

750 ILCS 5/Pt. III

 
    (750 ILCS 5/Pt. III heading)
PART III
DECLARATION OF INVALIDITY OF MARRIAGE

750 ILCS 5/301

    (750 ILCS 5/301) (from Ch. 40, par. 301)
    Sec. 301. Declaration of Invalidity - Grounds.) The court shall enter its judgment declaring the invalidity of a marriage (formerly known as annulment) entered into under the following circumstances:
    (1) a party lacked capacity to consent to the marriage at the time the marriage was solemnized, either because of mental incapacity or infirmity or because of the influence of alcohol, drugs or other incapacitating substances, or a party was induced to enter into a marriage by force or duress or by fraud involving the essentials of marriage;
    (2) a party lacks the physical capacity to consummate the marriage by sexual intercourse and at the time the marriage was solemnized the other party did not know of the incapacity;
    (3) a party was aged 16 or 17 years and did not have the consent of his parents or guardian or judicial approval; or
    (4) the marriage is prohibited.
(Source: P.A. 80-923.)

750 ILCS 5/302

    (750 ILCS 5/302) (from Ch. 40, par. 302)
    Sec. 302. Time of Commencement.) (a) A declaration of invalidity under paragraphs (1) through (3) of Section 301 may be sought by any of the following persons and must be commenced within the times specified:
    (1) for any of the reasons set forth in paragraph (1) of Section 301, by either party or by the legal representative of the party who lacked capacity to consent, no later than 90 days after the petitioner obtained knowledge of the described condition;
    (2) for the reason set forth in paragraph (2) of Section 301, by either party, no later than one year after the petitioner obtained knowledge of the described condition;
    (3) for the reason set forth in paragraph (3) of Section 301, by the underaged party, his parent or guardian, prior to the time the underaged party reaches the age at which he could have married without needing to satisfy the omitted requirement.
    (b) In no event may a declaration of invalidity of marriage be sought after the death of either party to the marriage under subsections (1), (2) and (3) of Section 301.
    (c) A declaration of invalidity for the reason set forth in paragraph (4) of Section 301 may be sought by either party, the legal spouse in case of a bigamous marriage, the State's Attorney or a child of either party, at any time not to exceed 3 years following the death of the first party to die.
(Source: P.A. 80-923.)

750 ILCS 5/303

    (750 ILCS 5/303) (from Ch. 40, par. 303)
    Sec. 303. Legitimacy of Children.) Children born or adopted of a marriage declared invalid are the lawful children of the parties. Children whose parents marry after their birth are the lawful children of the parties.
(Source: P.A. 94-229, eff. 1-1-06.)

750 ILCS 5/304

    (750 ILCS 5/304) (from Ch. 40, par. 304)
    Sec. 304. Retroactivity. Unless the court finds, after a consideration of all relevant circumstances, including the effect of a retroactive judgment on third parties, that the interests of justice would be served by making the judgment not retroactive, it shall declare the marriage invalid as of the date of the marriage. The provisions of this Act relating to property rights of the spouses, maintenance, support of children, and allocation of parental responsibilities on dissolution of marriage are applicable to non-retroactive judgments of invalidity of marriage only.
(Source: P.A. 99-90, eff. 1-1-16.)