Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois

In Illinois, there are several requirements to obtain a divorce via the simplified process. A couple of key ones are financial. For you though, having a child between you (even if before the marriage) means you cannot use the simplified process. Here are the criteria, reprinted from the DuPage County Court Clerk website:

Irreconcilable differences have caused the irretrievable breakdown of your marriage. All efforts at reconciliation of the differences have failed and future attempts a reconciliation would not be in the best interest of you and your spouse.

You and your spouse must have lived separate and apart for at least six months and you must be willing to waive the requirement for a two year separation before obtaining a dissolution on the grounds of irreconcilable differences.

You must have been married less then eight (8) years and either you or your spouse (or both) must have lived in the State of Illinois for at least ninety (90) days immediately prior to filing for the dissolution.

No children were born or adopted by you and your spouse during your relationship and the wife is not now pregnant.

Your joint, annual gross income from all sources must be less than $35,000.00 (Thirty-Five Thousand Dollars).

The total value of marital property you and your spouse own, less any encumbrances (amount owed) on the property (such as the amount owed on a car loan), must be less than $10,000.00 (Ten Thousand Dollars).

Neither you nor your spouse may own any real estate.

You and your spouse each must be willing to permanently give up any right to maintenance (alimony).

You and your spouse must have disclosed to each other all assets each of you have, and have disclosed all tax returns filed during your marriage.

You and your spouse must sign a written agreement (Form 3259) diving between yourselves all marital assets worth more than $100.00 (One Hundred Dollars) and dividing responsibility for all debts and liabilities. You must divide the property and sign and exchange all documents (such as automobile titles, etc.) necessary to carry out the agreement before any court hearings.

You and your spouse must waive any right you may have to a bifurcated hearing on your dissolution petition (a hearing held in two parts, one to decide the issues related to granting the dissolution and another to decide any property or other issues.