Uncontested Divorce in Chicago: Forms, Fees, and Prove-Up

An uncontested divorce in Chicago generally takes two to three months from filing to final judgment, costs $388 to file in Cook County, and ends with a short prove-up hearing in front of a Domestic Relations judge. The catch is in the word “uncontested”: you and your spouse must already agree, in writing, on every issue the court would otherwise decide. Property, debts, maintenance, and anything involving children all have to be settled before you file. If one piece is unresolved when you walk in, the case is contested.

Who Can File in Illinois

Before anything else, one of you has to meet the state’s residency rule. At least one spouse must have lived in Illinois for 90 continuous days. That clock can run either before you file or before the judge enters the judgment, so you don’t have to wait the full 90 days to start the paperwork.¹

Illinois is a no-fault state. The only legal ground is that irreconcilable differences have broken the marriage down beyond repair. Six continuous months of living apart creates an automatic presumption, but in a cooperative case you usually don’t need that waiting period. When both spouses appear and confirm the marriage is irretrievably broken, most judges accept that testimony as proof.¹

The agreement part is where the real work lives. “Uncontested” means total agreement, not substantial agreement. Division of property, debt allocation, spousal maintenance, parenting decisions, parenting time, and child support all have to be resolved. If you agree on nearly everything but one spouse objects to a single provision at the hearing, the case flips to contested.

The Faster Track: Joint Simplified Dissolution

If your situation is simple enough, Illinois offers an even quicker path called joint simplified dissolution. The eligibility rules are strict and every one has to be met:

No children were born or adopted during the marriage, and the wife is not pregnant.
The marriage has lasted eight years or less.
Neither spouse owns any interest in real estate. Retirement benefits are allowed only in individual retirement accounts with a combined value under $10,000.
Total marital property, after subtracting debts, is worth less than $50,000; combined gross annual income is under $60,000; and neither spouse individually earns more than $30,000.
Both spouses waive maintenance, permanently.
Both spouses have disclosed all assets, liabilities, and tax returns for every year of the marriage.
A signed written agreement divides every asset worth more than $100 and assigns responsibility for debts.

Unlike a standard uncontested divorce, the simplified process does require six months of separation before the judgment can be entered. You file the CCDR 19 packet together, which includes the joint petition, an affidavit, and a property division agreement, and both spouses have to show up at the hearing. The trade-off is permanent: by using this process you give up any future right to spousal support from your former spouse.³

What Your Written Agreement Has to Cover

The Marital Settlement Agreement is the document the judge actually reads. It needs to account for every significant asset and debt with enough specificity that a stranger could identify what you’re talking about. For a house, use the address and legal description and name who takes the mortgage. For a retirement account, give the plan name, approximate value, and the percentage going to each spouse. Vague language like “each party keeps their own accounts” causes real problems later when you’re trying to retitle a car or refinance.

Property and Debts

Illinois follows equitable distribution. In an uncontested case you’re writing your own division, but the judge checks it against what the law considers marital versus non-marital property. Marital property is almost everything acquired during the marriage, no matter whose name is on it. Non-marital property stays with its owner and covers what you brought into the marriage, inheritances, gifts from third parties, and anything a prenup or postnup excludes.⁴

Retirement accounts often contain both. Contributions made before the wedding are non-marital, but contributions and growth during the marriage are typically marital. Growth in the value of non-marital property generally remains non-marital, though the marital estate may be entitled to reimbursement if marital funds or effort helped produce that growth.⁴

Spousal Maintenance

Illinois has a statutory formula for maintenance based on both spouses’ net income and the length of the marriage.⁵ In an uncontested divorce you can agree to any amount and duration, including zero. The judge will review for basic fairness but generally respects what two adults negotiate. One important rule to keep in mind as you negotiate: for any divorce finalized after December 31, 2018, maintenance payments are not deductible for the payor and not taxable to the recipient.⁶ A dollar of maintenance costs the payor a full dollar and is worth a full dollar to the recipient.

Children: Support and Parenting Plan

If you have minor children, your agreement has to include child support calculated under Illinois’s income shares model. The court combines both parents’ monthly net incomes, looks up the total child support obligation for that income level and number of children on a state-published schedule, then splits it proportionally based on each parent’s share of combined income. When each parent has 146 or more overnights per year, the base obligation is multiplied by 1.5 and offset based on each parent’s time with the child; whoever owes more pays the difference.⁷

You also need a Parenting Plan. It covers decision-making authority for major issues like education, healthcare, and religion, along with a detailed parenting time schedule. Judges scrutinize Parenting Plans more carefully than property agreements because the court has an independent obligation to protect children’s interests. A vague or lopsided plan is the fastest way to turn an uncontested case into a contested one.

The Forms You File

For a standard uncontested divorce in Cook County, the core filings are:

Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, stating the basic facts of the marriage and the relief requested.
Summons, or an Entry of Appearance if your spouse is waiving formal service.
Marital Settlement Agreement with the full terms you’ve negotiated.
Parenting Plan, if you have minor children.
Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage, a proposed order you bring to the prove-up for the judge to sign.

⁸

For a joint simplified dissolution, use the CCDR 19 packet, which bundles the joint petition, affidavit, and property division agreement into one filing.³

Filing and Fees in Cook County

Cook County requires electronic filing through the statewide Odyssey eFileIL system for all civil cases, divorce included.⁹ You create an account, upload your documents, and pay online. The filing fee for a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage is $388. Your spouse owes a separate appearance fee when they enter the case; both figures are listed on the Domestic Relations Division fee schedule from the Clerk of the Circuit Court.

Once the filing is processed, you’ll receive a case number and judicial assignment. All subsequent court communications go to the email on your e-filing account, so use one you check.

Fee Waivers

If you can’t afford the filing fee, Illinois law provides full or partial waivers. You automatically qualify for a full waiver if you receive means-tested benefits like SNAP, TANF, SSI, or General Assistance, or if your income is at or below 125% of the federal poverty level. Partial waivers run on a sliding scale: a 75% waiver for income at or below 150% of poverty, 50% at or below 175%, and 25% at or below 200%. File an Application for Waiver of Court Fees (sometimes called a 298 Petition) with your divorce paperwork.⁸

The Prove-Up Hearing

The prove-up is the final step and in a cooperative case it’s usually brief. The judge reviews your settlement agreement and hears short testimony from the petitioner confirming the basic facts: your name, how long you’ve lived in Illinois, when you were married, that irreconcilable differences have broken down the marriage, and that both spouses agree to the settlement terms.⁸

The judge’s job is to confirm the agreement is fair and that neither spouse was pressured into clearly one-sided terms. If children are involved, the Parenting Plan and child support numbers get closer attention to make sure they follow Illinois guidelines. If everything checks out, the judge signs the Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage on the spot. That signature ends the marriage.

Cook County typically schedules prove-up hearings through the assigned judge’s motion call. Some courtrooms offer online scheduling. Watch the notifications from your e-filing account for instructions specific to your judge.

After the Judgment

The signed Judgment is the document you’ll need for almost everything that follows, so order several certified copies from the Clerk’s office right away.

Retirement Accounts

If your settlement divides an employer-sponsored plan like a 401(k) or pension, you need a Qualified Domestic Relations Order. A QDRO is a separate court order that directs the plan administrator to split the retirement benefits according to your divorce judgment. Without one, the administrator has no legal authority to send money to the non-participant spouse.¹⁰ IRAs don’t require a QDRO; they can be divided through a direct transfer between accounts based on the decree. Drafting a QDRO requires plan-specific information and approval from both the court and the plan administrator, and some plans take months. Start it immediately after the judgment is signed.

Real Estate

If one spouse is keeping the marital home, the other typically signs a quitclaim deed transferring their ownership interest. The deed has to be notarized and recorded with the Cook County Recorder of Deeds. Illinois also requires a real estate transfer declaration (Form PTAX-203), though transfers between divorcing spouses often qualify for an exemption from the state transfer tax. Property transferred between spouses as part of a divorce triggers no federal income tax, and the receiving spouse takes over the transferor’s original tax basis.¹¹

Name Change

If the judgment restores your prior name, your certified copy of the decree is your proof. The Social Security Administration requires Form SS-5 along with either the original or a certified copy of the judgment and valid government-issued identification like a driver’s license or passport. Photocopies and notarized copies are not accepted. Update Social Security first, then use the new card to update your driver’s license, bank accounts, and other records.

1
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 5/401 – Dissolution of Marriage
2
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 5/452 – Petition for Joint Simplified Dissolution
3
Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. Filing for a Joint Simplified Dissolution of Marriage/Civil Union
4
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 5/503 – Disposition of Property and Debts
5
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 5/504 – Maintenance
6
Internal Revenue Service. Alimony and Separate Maintenance
7
Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 750 ILCS 5/505 – Child Support
8
Circuit Court of Cook County. Court Forms for the Domestic Relations Division
9
Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County. eFile
10
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Topics – QDRO: Qualified Domestic Relations Order
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1041 – Transfers of Property Between Spouses or Incident to Divorce