In re Parentage

Overview

The Second District affirmed the Lake County circuit court's denial of a mother's motions to transfer custody proceedings to Colombia on forum non conveniens grounds and her petition to enroll a Colombian custody order. The court held that Illinois remained the more appropriate forum given its longstanding involvement, and that the mother forfeited key arguments by failing to address the actual bases for the trial court's rulings.

Key Facts

Child S.I. born January 2021 in Illinois; both parties admitted Illinois was the home state

Extensive litigation history including mutual abuse allegations, orders of protection, supervised parenting time, and alcohol testing

August 28, 2023: GAL-prepared allocation judgment entered granting equal parenting time and joint decision-making, signed by both parties while they were already in Colombia

September 2023: Parties' relationship ended in Colombia; mother refused to return S.I. to Illinois, obtaining Colombian protective orders and a travel ban on the child

Mother was found in indirect civil contempt for defying multiple Illinois court orders to return S.I.

Mother obtained a January 31, 2025, Colombian agreed order addressing custody and sought to enroll it in Illinois

Procedural History

Circuit Court of Lake County (Judge Sharmila K. Manak), Case No. 22-FA-462. Father filed parentage/allocation petition August 2022. After extensive proceedings, mother filed two forum non conveniens motions (January 2025 and February 2025) and a petition to enroll the Colombian judgment (May 2025). The first forum non conveniens motion was denied on the merits; the second was stricken for failure to appear. The enrollment petition was denied October 2025; reconsideration denied January 2026. Appeal to the Second District, No. 2-26-0084.

Holdings

First forum non conveniens motion: No abuse of discretion in denying transfer. Under 750 ILCS 36/207 , the eight statutory factors favored Illinois, particularly the court's longstanding familiarity, the GAL appointment, and the fact that S.I.'s extended Colombian residence resulted from mother's willful violations of court orders. Standard of review: abuse of discretion.

Second forum non conveniens motion: Mother forfeited her challenge by failing to address the actual basis for the ruling—her failure to appear in person as ordered—rather than the substantive merits. Standard of review: abuse of discretion.

Enrollment of Colombian judgment: Mother forfeited her arguments by failing to demonstrate that the Colombian court substantially conformed to the UCCJEA's jurisdictional standards or adequately considered S.I.'s best interests. Standard of review: abuse of discretion.

Legal Principles

750 ILCS 36/207 (UCCJEA § 207): Eight-factor inconvenient forum analysis; court with exclusive continuing jurisdiction may decline only if another forum is "more appropriate"

750 ILCS 36/105 : Foreign country custody determinations must be recognized if made in "substantial conformity" with UCCJEA jurisdictional standards

750 ILCS 36/206 : Prohibition on simultaneous custody proceedings

In re Marriage of Rickett , 2020 IL App (3d) 180657 : Controlling precedent on abuse-of-discretion standard for forum non conveniens under UCCJEA

Vancura v. Katris , 238 Ill. 2d 352 (2010) : Forfeiture for failure to raise arguments or support them with authority

A parent's own willful noncompliance with court orders cannot create favorable forum non conveniens factors (e.g., child's extended out-of-state residence)

Practical Implications

Self-created inconvenience is no defense: A parent who unilaterally retains a child in a foreign jurisdiction cannot leverage the child's resulting extended absence to argue forum non conveniens

Preserve arguments on appeal: Challenge the actual basis of the trial court's ruling; failure to do so results in forfeiture—a recurring theme here on two of three issues

Enrollment of foreign custody orders: Practitioners seeking to enroll foreign country orders under § 105 must affirmatively demonstrate substantial conformity with UCCJEA jurisdictional standards and that the child's best interests were considered

Early GAL involvement strengthens forum retention: The court's appointment of a GAL and accumulated case history were pivotal factors favoring Illinois

Allocation judgments matter: The parties' signed Illinois allocation judgment—entered after they were already abroad—was powerful evidence of intent to litigate in Illinois

Limitations/Caveats

This is a Rule 23(b) order with no precedential value except under the narrow circumstances of Rule 23(e)(1). Two of the three holdings rest on forfeiture rather than substantive analysis, limiting their utility as persuasive authority on the merits of UCCJEA § 105 enrollment or the second forum non conveniens motion. The court's discussion of whether a parent's willful noncompliance negates favorable forum factors, while analytically significant, is intertwined with the merits holding on the first motion and constitutes the strongest persuasive reasoning in the opinion.