The divorce process in Illinois starts with one spouse filing a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage in the circuit court of their county, serving the other spouse, exchanging financial information, resolving property, support, and parenting issues, and ending with a judge signing a Judgment of Dissolution. Illinois is a no-fault state, so you do not have to prove anyone did anything wrong. How long the case takes and what it costs depend almost entirely on whether you and your spouse can agree.
Before You File: Residency and Grounds
At least one spouse must have lived in Illinois for 90 continuous days before the court can enter a final judgment. Military members stationed in the state for the same period also qualify.1Illinois General Assembly. 750 ILCS 5/401 – Dissolution of Marriage You can file the petition before 90 days are up; you just cannot be divorced until the clock has run.
There is only one legal ground: irreconcilable differences that have caused an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. If you and your spouse have lived separate and apart for at least six continuous months before the judgment date, that is treated as conclusive proof the marriage is broken.1Illinois General Assembly. 750 ILCS 5/401 – Dissolution of Marriage “Separate and apart” can mean living under the same roof while no longer functioning as a married couple. Fault grounds like adultery or abandonment are gone from the statute and play no role.
Filing the Petition and Serving Your Spouse
The case begins when you file a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage along with a Summons. The petition identifies both spouses, gives basic information about the marriage, and states what you want the court to decide: property division, support, maintenance, parenting arrangements, or all of these.
Illinois requires electronic filing through the Odyssey eFileIL portal for most civil cases. You create an account, upload your documents, and pay fees online.2Illinois Courts. How to e-File Exemptions exist for people in jail, juvenile cases, and anyone whose disability prevents using the system. Others can request an exemption for good cause, such as lacking internet access or a bank account.
After filing, your spouse must be formally notified. The standard route is sheriff service, which typically runs $55 to $65 depending on the county, plus mileage in some places. If the sheriff cannot reach your spouse, the court can appoint a private process server or, in limited circumstances, authorize service by publication in a newspaper.3Illinois General Assembly. 735 ILCS 5/2-203 – Service on Individuals
Your spouse has 30 days after being served to file an appearance and a response. Missing that deadline can result in a default judgment, where the court grants what the petition asked for without the other side’s input. A default judgment can only be challenged within 30 days of its entry. Ignoring divorce papers does not make the case go away; it just removes your voice from it.
Financial Disclosure
Both spouses must complete a Financial Affidavit listing all income, expenses, assets, and debts, supported by documentation such as tax returns, pay stubs, and bank statements.4Illinois General Assembly. 750 ILCS 5/501 – Temporary Relief A misleading or inaccurate affidavit can lead to sanctions, including being ordered to pay the other side’s attorney fees. Every later decision about property, support, and maintenance flows from these numbers, which is why courts take the affidavit seriously.
Court Fees and Fee Waivers
Filing fees vary by county and generally run into the hundreds of dollars. Your local circuit clerk can give you the exact figure.
If you cannot afford the fees, Illinois has a tiered waiver system tied to the federal poverty level. You qualify for a full waiver if you receive means-tested benefits like SNAP, TANF, or SSI, or if your income is at or below 125% of the federal poverty level. For a single person in 2026, that threshold is $19,950.5Illinois General Assembly. 735 ILCS 5/5-105 – Waiver of Court Fees Partial waivers scale up from there: 75% off between 125% and 150% of poverty, 50% off between 150% and 175%, and 25% off between 175% and 200%. Even above those brackets, a judge can grant a waiver if paying would cause substantial hardship. The Application for Waiver of Court Fees is a standardized form every Illinois court must accept.6Illinois Courts. Fee Waiver for Civil Cases
Dividing Property and Debts
Illinois follows equitable distribution. Marital property is split in proportions the court considers fair, which is not always 50/50. The court first classifies everything as marital or non-marital. Marital property covers almost everything acquired by either spouse during the marriage. Non-marital property includes assets owned before the marriage, individual gifts or inheritances, and anything excluded by a valid prenuptial or postnuptial agreement.7Illinois General Assembly. 750 ILCS 5/503 – Disposition of Property and Debts
Non-marital property goes back to its owner. Marital property is then divided based on statutory factors: each spouse’s contribution (including homemaking), the length of the marriage, each spouse’s economic circumstances, any prenuptial agreement, age and health, and whether either spouse dissipated marital assets. Dissipation matters in Illinois cases. If one spouse spent marital money on something unrelated to the marriage, the court can adjust the rest of the division to account for it.
One wrinkle catches people off guard: an increase in the value of non-marital property stays non-marital, even if that growth came from a spouse’s work during the marriage. The marital estate may have a reimbursement claim for contributions it made toward the non-marital asset, and sorting out those overlapping interests is where property cases get complicated.
Spousal Maintenance
When combined gross annual income is under $500,000 and the paying spouse has no prior support obligation, Illinois uses a formula for maintenance (sometimes called alimony). The amount equals 33 1/3% of the paying spouse’s net annual income minus 25% of the receiving spouse’s net annual income, capped so the receiving spouse does not end up with more than 40% of the couple’s combined net income after maintenance is added.8Illinois General Assembly. 750 ILCS 5/504 – Maintenance
Duration depends on how long the marriage lasted, using a multiplier that rises with each bracket. A marriage under 5 years uses 0.20; a 10-year marriage uses 0.44; a 15-year marriage uses 0.64. For marriages of 20 years or more, the court can order maintenance for a period equal to the length of the marriage, or indefinitely. A 12-year marriage, for example, produces roughly 6.24 years of maintenance (12 × 0.52). The judge can deviate from the formula if applying it would be inappropriate, but the formula is the starting point.
Child Support and Parenting Plans
Illinois calculates child support using an income shares model. The court figures each parent’s monthly net income, combines them, looks up the basic obligation on a statutory schedule, and splits that obligation between the parents based on each one’s share of combined income.9Illinois General Assembly. 750 ILCS 5/505 – Child Support
Net income starts with gross income from all sources and subtracts taxes (using a standardized formula), mandatory retirement contributions, and support for children from prior relationships. If a parent earns at or below 75% of the federal poverty level for a single person, there is a presumed minimum of $40 per month per child, capped at $120 total. A parent with no income, only public assistance, or a medically documented inability to work may receive a zero-dollar order.
When both parents have the child for at least 146 overnights per year, the arrangement counts as shared physical care. The basic obligation is then multiplied by 1.5 before being divided, reflecting that both households carry direct costs.
If minor children are involved, both parents must file a proposed Parenting Plan within 120 days after the petition is served or filed. You can file a joint plan or separate plans.10Illinois General Assembly. 750 ILCS 5/602.10 – Parenting Plan The plan has to address who makes major decisions about education, health care, and religion; the child’s schedule on regular days, holidays, and school breaks; transportation; communication rules when the child is with the other parent; relocation; and how future disputes will be mediated.
Illinois law uses the term “parental responsibilities” rather than “custody.” Decision-making authority can go to one parent, be shared, or be split by subject (one parent on education, the other on medical, for instance). Everything is evaluated under the best-interests-of-the-child standard. Both parents are also required to attend a parenting education class, and failing to complete it can delay the case.11Circuit Court of Cook County. Parent Education
How the Case Ends
If both spouses agree on every issue, the case moves to a prove-up hearing. This is a short court appearance where the judge reviews the settlement to confirm it complies with Illinois law and is not grossly unfair. The judge will ask questions to make sure both spouses understand the terms and signed voluntarily. If everything checks out, the judge signs the Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage, which ends the marriage and incorporates all terms for property, support, maintenance, and parenting.
Contested cases follow a longer road: discovery (the formal exchange of documents and information), depositions, mediation, and potentially a trial. Illinois Supreme Court time standards expect 75% of divorce cases involving children to be resolved within 9 months and 90% within 15 months. Cases without children generally move faster. An uncontested case can wrap up in a few months.
What to Handle After the Judgment
Dividing a 401(k), pension, or other employer-sponsored retirement plan requires a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, or QDRO. This is a separate court order instructing the plan administrator to pay a portion of benefits to the non-employee spouse. The divorce judgment alone is not enough; the plan cannot distribute funds to an ex-spouse without a valid QDRO.12U.S. Department of Labor. QDROs – An Overview Forgetting to prepare and file the QDRO is one of the most common and expensive post-divorce mistakes. If the employee spouse changes jobs, retires, or dies before it is processed, the other spouse can lose access entirely.
Divorce is a qualifying event under COBRA, letting the spouse losing coverage stay on the ex’s employer-sponsored health plan for up to 36 months. You pay the full premium plus a 2% administrative fee, and you or a qualified beneficiary must notify the plan within 60 days of the divorce.13U.S. Department of Labor. FAQs on COBRA Continuation Health Coverage for Workers Losing coverage through divorce also opens a 60-day Special Enrollment Period on the Health Insurance Marketplace, which is often cheaper than COBRA.
Taxes change too. For any divorce finalized after December 31, 2018, maintenance is not deductible by the payer and not taxable to the recipient under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.14Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 452, Alimony and Separate Maintenance Only one parent can claim the child tax credit per child, and it defaults to the custodial parent unless that parent signs a written declaration releasing it. Even with that release, head of household status, the dependent care credit, and the Earned Income Tax Credit stay with the custodial parent.15Internal Revenue Service. Divorced and Separated Parents These should be addressed in settlement negotiations rather than discovered at tax time.
Keep a certified copy of your Judgment of Dissolution. You will need it to update financial accounts, property titles, insurance policies, and government records.