Illinois Dissolution of Marriage Act
"Dissolution of Marriage" is the legal term given to divorce proceedings and is the legal procedure for dissolving a marriage and returning the married couple to an unmarried condition. Section 401 of the Illinois Compiled Statutes delineates the procedure for obtaining a divorce in Illinois and provides guidelines for property division, child support and alimony. It also dictates the behavior of the parties between filing and granting the divorce.
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Fault Grounds
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In Illinois, a spouse seeking a divorce or dissolution of marriage must prove one of two grounds exist before the court will enter judgment dissolving the marriage. One of the grounds include actions perpetrated by the responding spouse including impotency, bigamy or being married to another, adultery, desertion, alcohol or drug abuse for two years, attempted murder, mental or physical cruelty, felony conviction or infection of a sexually transmitted disease.
No-Fault Grounds
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The other grounds under which parties can file for divorce is called "irreconcilable differences." To file for a dissolution under the irreconcilable differences grounds, the spouses must have lived apart between six months and two years, and their attempts to save the marriage failed and any future attempts would likely fail.
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Contested Procedure
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To begin a divorce or dissolution of marriage proceeding Illinois, the complaining spouse files a verified Petition for Dissolution of Marriage setting forth basic facts and the grounds under which he is seeking a divorce. If the divorce is objected to by the responding spouse, the court may split the trial into a portion deciding grounds and a second portion regarding other matters such as property division. Both parties then appear to testify and answer the court's oral examination. If the court decides reconciliation might be possible, it may order a conciliation or settlement conference. Once the court enters a judgment declaring a marriage invalid, the clerk will it file it and notify other affected jurisdictions.
Child Support and Maintenance
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If the parties in a dissolution proceeding have children and the court finds it would be in the best interests of the children, it may order the parties to attend a class about the issue of children in divorce. Issues of child custody, child support, disposition of property and maintenance or alimony matters must be decided before the court will enter a judgment granting dissolution.
Simplified Procedure
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Illinois' Dissolution of Marriage Act provides an expedited procedure to obtain a divorce for couples who qualify. To qualify for the simplified procedure, neither party can be financially dependent on the other and both must waive the right to support payments, the grounds must be irreconcilable differences, they must not have children or own property and the marriage must be less than 8 years old. Additionally, all of the marital property must be valued at less than $10,000; their combined income must be less than $35,000 and their individual incomes less than $20,000 annually. To obtain a divorce under this provision, the couple must disclose their assets and tax returns to each other and file a written agreement for the divorce accounting for allocation of all assets valued over $100.
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References
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