If you are getting divorced in Illinois and have minor children, both you and your spouse must complete a court-approved parenting class of at least four hours before your case can move forward. The requirement comes from Illinois Supreme Court Rule 924, and it applies to every dissolution of marriage case involving children, no matter how amicable the split. You have 60 days from your first case management conference to finish it.
Who Has To Take the Class
Both parents are required to attend. It does not matter whether you agree on custody, whether one of you filed and the other responded, or whether your parenting plan is already drafted and signed. If children are part of the case, both parents go.
The requirement also reaches parentage cases where parenting time or decision-making responsibility is at stake, not just divorces. The only automatic exception is a default situation or a case where the court lacks jurisdiction over one parent. In that scenario, only the parent who filed has to complete the course. If the absent parent later appears or files anything post-judgment, that parent has to finish the class before the case continues.
Asking the Judge To Excuse You
A judge can waive attendance, but not easily. You have to show “good cause,” the reason has to be documented in the court record, and the judge has to specifically find that excusing you serves the child’s best interests. Rule 924 does not spell out what counts as good cause, so it is handled case by case. Do not assume you qualify. Raise it with the court before the deadline passes.
What the Class Covers
Every circuit in Illinois approves its own program, but the curriculum has to include at least four hours on parenting time, allocation of parental responsibilities, and how both affect children. It is education, not therapy or evaluation. Nothing you say in the class ends up in your court file or gets used against you in deciding your case.
Most circuits approve both in-person and online formats, and plenty of parents complete the entire course from home in a single sitting. Some counties, though, will not accept online courses. Call your Circuit Clerk or the Chief Judge’s office before you register and confirm the provider you are considering is on the approved list for your county. Taking an unapproved course means paying again and sitting through another four hours with a provider the court recognizes.
One practical point many circuits enforce: you and your former spouse cannot attend the same session. Register separately.
The 60-Day Deadline
Rule 924 tells you to finish the class as soon as possible, and in no event later than 60 days after your first case management conference. The clock is the same for both parents.
Miss the deadline and the court can sanction you under Rule 924(c). The rule reaches anyone “willfully failing to complete the program,” so a genuine scheduling problem you flag in good faith is handled differently from simply ignoring the requirement. Even so, sanctions can delay your case, cost money, and sour your relationship with the judge who is about to decide your parenting plan. Finishing early is the safer play.
Signing Up and Paying for It
Find a court-approved provider for your specific circuit through the Circuit Clerk’s website or the Chief Judge’s office. When you register, have your case number, both parties’ full legal names, and the county where the case is filed, so the provider can send your completion record to the right court.
Fees generally run $40 to $100. DuPage County, for example, charges $100 plus a small electronic payment processing fee. If your circuit approves more than one provider, it is worth comparing prices.
Fee Waivers if You Cannot Afford It
Under 735 ILCS 5/5-105, Illinois’s fee waiver statute, parenting education programs are specifically listed as a covered cost. The waiver works on a sliding scale tied to the federal poverty level:
- Full waiver if you receive means-tested public benefits like SNAP or TANF, or if the court finds you cannot pay without substantial hardship.
- 75% waiver if your household income is above 125% but at or below 150% of the federal poverty level.
- 50% waiver if your income is above 150% but at or below 175% of poverty.
- 25% waiver if your income is above 175% but at or below 200% of poverty.
You apply by filing a fee waiver application with the court showing your income and expenses. If the court grants it, you enroll at the reduced rate or at no cost.
Filing Your Certificate of Completion
When you finish, the provider gives you a Certificate of Completion. Getting it filed with the Circuit Clerk in the county handling your case is your job, not the provider’s. Until that certificate shows up in the court record, the judge may not know you are done, and hearings can be pushed back for no good reason.
Illinois uses mandatory electronic filing for most court documents, so you will usually upload the certificate through an approved e-filing service provider rather than dropping off paper. Link the filing to the correct case number, submit it, then check the clerk’s online portal to confirm it was accepted and is attached to your case. A certificate that sits unaccepted in e-filing limbo is almost as bad as never taking the class.
If you are representing yourself and have not used e-filing before, the Illinois Courts website lists approved electronic filing service providers. Some offer free accounts for basic filings, though small convenience fees for payment processing are common.