Illinois Form VR-700 is the Certificate of Dissolution of Marriage that the Clerk of the Circuit Court completes alongside your final divorce judgment and sends to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). The form also covers declarations of invalidity and legal separations. You don’t file it yourself and you don’t mail it to the state; your job is to supply accurate personal information so the clerk can finish it when the judge enters your judgment.
The form is printed under state authority and headed “Illinois Department of Public Health — Division of Vital Records,” but distribution happens at the county level. The Circuit Clerk’s office in the county where your divorce is pending provides it, usually handing it to the parties or their attorneys during the final stages of the case. Cook County makes it available as a downloadable PDF through the clerk of court website.1Cook County Clerk of Court. Certificate of Dissolution of Marriage Illinois Form
What VR-700 Collects From You
VR-700 asks for more than names and dates. The form feeds Illinois’s vital statistics system, so it collects demographic data that may seem unrelated to your case. Gathering everything before your final hearing keeps the clerk from sending it back incomplete.
Personal Information for Each Spouse
The top of the form requests identifying details for both parties (the form uses “husband” and “wife”). For each person:
- Full legal name, including any maiden name or prior surname
- Social Security number (required for both parties; not part of the public record)
- Date of birth
- State or country of birth
- Current residence: city or township, county, and state
Every entry should match your final judgment. If the certificate and the court’s records disagree, you’ll end up dealing with a correction process at IDPH later.
Marriage and Household Details
The middle section documents the marriage being dissolved:
- Date of marriage
- Place of marriage: city, county, and state (or country if married abroad)
- Date the couple last resided in the same household (a statistical point, not a legal finding)
- Number of children born alive of this marriage, regardless of current age
- Children under 18 in the household, listed separately
- How physical custody of minor children was allocated: husband, wife, jointly, or another arrangement
- Which party filed the petition
- Type of decree: dissolution, invalidity, or legal separation
- Legal grounds stated in the judgment (Illinois now uses irreconcilable differences for most dissolutions)
Statistical Information
VR-700 also gathers data IDPH uses for demographic tracking rather than legal purposes: race and Hispanic origin, highest grade completed, whether this was each person’s first marriage or a later one, and how any prior marriage ended.2Illinois General Assembly. Section 500 Appendix D Certificate of Dissolution, Invalidity of Marriage or Legal Separation Leaving these fields blank won’t invalidate your divorce, but the clerk’s office will usually ask you to fill in what you can. IDPH aggregates the responses into its annual vital statistics reports.
How the Form Gets to the State
Two steps, both inside the court system. First, the completed form goes to the Clerk of the Circuit Court at the same time the judge enters the Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage. The clerk reviews it, adds the date the decree was recorded, and signs it to validate it for state use.1Cook County Clerk of Court. Certificate of Dissolution of Marriage Illinois Form
Second, the clerk forwards the signed certificate to the IDPH Division of Vital Records. State law assigns IDPH the responsibility of registering all dissolutions, and Section 707 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act specifically governs the filing of these certificates with the department.3Illinois Department of Public Health. Vital Statistics Once processed, your dissolution joins the statewide index of vital records, which runs from 1962 to the present.
Mistakes That Hold Up the Filing
Most problems come from incomplete or mismatched information. A few recur:
- Leaving a Social Security number blank. Some people hesitate; the clerk will hold the form until both numbers are filled in.
- Dates or names that don’t match the judgment. If VR-700 shows one marriage date and the judgment shows another, the clerk catches it, and sorting it out takes time.
- Skipping the statistical section entirely. Individual blank fields are tolerated; a wholly empty section looks rushed and tends to come back.
If you discover an error after the certificate has been filed with IDPH, contact both the circuit clerk’s office and the IDPH Division of Vital Records to start a correction. Keep your original divorce judgment on hand, since the certificate has to match what the court actually ordered.
Getting Proof of Your Divorce Later
This is where VR-700 most often confuses people. IDPH does not issue certified copies of dissolution records. It only issues verifications, which confirm the basic facts: names, dates of birth, date of the event, and the city or county where the dissolution occurred.4Illinois Department of Public Health. Dissolution of Marriage Records A verification works for confirming marital status. It does not show property division, support, custody, or any of the other terms of your judgment.
For a verification, send IDPH a completed Application for Verification of Dissolution of Marriage/Civil Union Record Files (or a letter with both parties’ names, dates of birth, and the date and place of the dissolution), a readable and unexpired government-issued photo ID, and a $5 check or money order payable to the Illinois Department of Public Health. The office is in Springfield, and requests can also go in by fax or in person. The index covers dissolutions from 1962 forward.4Illinois Department of Public Health. Dissolution of Marriage Records
When an institution asks for “proof of divorce,” what it usually wants is a certified copy of the judgment itself. That comes from the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the dissolution was granted, not from IDPH.4Illinois Department of Public Health. Dissolution of Marriage Records Fees vary by county and typically include a per-page certification charge plus copying costs. Requests can go in by mail, in person, or through the county’s online portal if one exists. If you’re not sure which county handled your case, the IDPH website keeps a directory of Illinois circuit court clerks.
A certified copy from the circuit court carries the clerk’s seal and signature and is accepted for name changes on a driver’s license, deed updates, insurance beneficiary changes, and similar legal and financial tasks. Requesting a $5 IDPH verification when you actually need the full decree is one of the more common wasted trips tied to VR-700, so match the document to the use before you pay for anything.