State of Illinois
Instruction Book for Dissolution of Marriage Court Forms
The judge cannot allow you to begin using a new
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STEP 1: COMPLETE FORMS.
name you have never used before.
If you want to use a name you have never used before
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A. Petition for Dissolution of Marriage/Civil Union
you will have to start a separate court case by filing a
(Divorce No Children)
Request for Name Change (Adult). You can find the
To help you fill out the form, the Petition has line-by-line
forms at:
.
instructions on the left-side of the form. Below is more
helpful information.
B. Certificate of Dissolution of Marriage
Section 5(e): Reason for Divorce
You must complete this form and file it with the Circuit
All divorces are granted because of irreconcilable
Clerk.
differences.
Get this form from the Circuit Clerk.
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If you are representing yourself you will leave box 17
Irreconcilable Differences: means you and your
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blank.
spouse do not get along anymore and you do not
Boxes 18 and 19 are for the Circuit Clerk to complete
want to be married.
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so leave those blank.
If you have been separated 6 months or more, tell this
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to the judge.
C. Notice Form
If you have been separated less than 6 months you
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Complete one of these forms:
will have to show the judge that you and your spouse:
•
1. Summons: use this if you are going to have the
Separated because you cannot get along
sheriff serve a copy of your forms on your spouse;
anymore; AND
OR
•
Tried to fix the problems in your marriage, but
2. Entry of Appearance: use this if your spouse
could not, or the problems are so bad that trying
agrees that the sheriff does not have to serve
to fix them is not best for your family.
them with a copy of your forms.
You can find these forms at:
Section 7: Debts
.
You must tell the court if you and your spouse have debts
from the marriage that are still owed. If you and your
spouse cannot agree on how to divide the debt, the judge
STEP 2: WHAT DO I DO AFTER I
will decide who is responsible for each debt.
FILL OUT MY FORMS?
Sections 8, 9, 10 & 11: Personal Property, Real Estate
Pension/Retirement Accounts & Money Claims
File your forms with the Circuit Clerk in the county
You must tell the court if you and your spouse own
where your court case should be filed.
personal property (clothing/furniture), real estate,
File your case in the county you live in or the county
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pension/retirement accounts, or money claims. If you and
your spouse lives in.
your spouse cannot agree on how to divide the property,
If you are an inmate in a prison or jail and don’t have
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the judge will decide who gets the property.
an attorney, you may file your forms by mail.
Otherwise, you must electronically file (e-file) your
forms.
Section 12: Maintenance/Spousal Support
If you are unable to e-file for other reasons, you can
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Maintenance/ spousal support is money paid from one
ask the court to file by mail or in person. To ask the
spouse to the other on a regular basis.
court for approval to file this way, you can use the
To get maintenance/spousal support you must show
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Certification for Exemption from E-Filing form found
the court there is a good reason such as a long
here:
marriage, poor health, or an inability to support
default.a
yourself.
sp.
The judge is not required to order
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To e-file, create an account with an e-filing service
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maintenance/spousal support.
provider. Visit
providers.htm
to select a service provider. Some
service providers are free, while others charge a
Section G: Former Name
processing fee. For instructions on how to e-file for
You must tell the court if you want to go back to using a
free with Odyssey eFileIL, see Odyssey File & Serve:
former name.
Individual Filer User Guide here:
The judge can allow you to return to any name you
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https://tylertech.egain.cloud/kb/ilh5/content/PROD-
have used before.
16579/HTML-5-Individual-Filer-User-Guide-20170
Find Illinois Supreme Court approved forms at: .
DV-I 117.2
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