Divorce Law in Illinois

No. Illinois is a pure no-fault state. The only ground for divorce is irreconcilable differences — that the marriage has broken down with no prospect of reconciliation. No spouse has to prove misconduct by the other. If the couple has lived separately for at least six continuous months before the judgment is entered, the court automatically treats the irreconcilable-differences requirement as satisfied.

Illinois courts use equitable distribution under 750 ILCS 5/503, meaning marital property is divided fairly but not necessarily 50/50. The court considers factors such as the length of the marriage, each spouse's economic situation, contributions to the marriage including homemaking, and whether either spouse wasted or dissipated marital assets. Property owned before the marriage, or received as a gift or inheritance during the marriage, is generally non-marital property and stays with that spouse.

When the statutory guideline formula applies, the annual maintenance amount starts with 33.3 percent of the paying spouse's net income minus 25 percent of the receiving spouse's net income, then reduced if needed so that the receiving spouse's total income does not exceed 40 percent of both spouses' combined net income. Duration is calculated by multiplying the length of the marriage by a factor that increases with each year of marriage; marriages of 20 or more years may result in indefinite maintenance. Courts retain discretion to deviate from the formula based on the factors listed in 750 ILCS 5/504.

Illinois uses the income shares model under 750 ILCS 5/505. Both parents' gross incomes are converted to net income using a standardized table, then combined to look up a basic obligation in a published schedule based on the number of children. Each parent pays a share proportional to their contribution to the combined income. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services provides a free online child support estimator at hfs.illinois.gov.

Illinois replaced the term custody with allocation of parental responsibilities. This covers two separate areas: decision-making authority — over education, health care, religion, and extracurricular activities — and parenting time (formerly called visitation). Courts allocate these based on the best interests of the child using the factors listed in 750 ILCS 5/602.7.

A divorce can still proceed. If your spouse does not respond after being properly served, you can ask the court for a default judgment. Because irreconcilable differences is the only ground for divorce, one spouse's refusal to cooperate cannot permanently block the case — it may simply make the process longer and require additional court hearings.

Yes. Either parent can ask the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services to review a child support order every three years without having to prove a substantial change in circumstances; a review can also be requested sooner if income or the child's needs change significantly. Spousal maintenance generally requires proof of a substantial change in circumstances to modify, and it automatically ends if the receiving spouse remarries or lives with a new partner on a continuing conjugal basis.