Timeline in Illinois

No Statutory Waiting Period Since 2016

Illinois eliminated all fault-based grounds for divorce, including adultery, desertion, and mental cruelty, effective January 1, 2016, under Public Act 99-90. The same reform replaced the old separation requirement. That requirement had been two years, reducible to six months only by written stipulation of both spouses. The current, simpler mechanism works differently. Living separately for a continuous six months now creates an irrebuttable presumption that grounds are met. Couples who haven't been separated six months can still get a divorce immediately. This applies if the court finds reconciliation efforts have failed or would be impracticable and not in the family's best interest. That's easily shown when both spouses agree.

In practice, this means there's no hard statutory waiting period standing between an uncontested Illinois case and a final judgment.

Residency: 90 Days Statewide

At least one spouse must have been a resident of Illinois for 90 days immediately before the dissolution action is filed. Being stationed in Illinois as a member of the armed services also counts. This figure is confirmed both in statute and on the Illinois Supreme Court's own statewide petition form, ATJ 103.4. The form directly asks the petitioner and respondent to confirm they've lived in Illinois for longer than 90 days. There's no separate county-level residency requirement layered on top of the statewide 90-day rule.

The Joint Simplified Dissolution Procedure

Illinois offers a genuinely separate fast track for a narrow group of cases, the Joint Simplified Dissolution Procedure under 750 ILCS 5/452-453. To qualify, the marriage must be eight years or less. No children can have been born to or adopted by the couple during the marriage, and the wife can't currently be pregnant. The total marital property must be worth under $50,000 after debts. Combined gross annual income must be under $60,000, with neither spouse individually over $30,000. Neither spouse can have an interest in real property, and both must waive maintenance. The spouses also need a written agreement dividing all assets and debts.

Both spouses must jointly petition and both must appear in court, but if every condition is met, the statute says the court shall grant the judgment.

What Restarts or Delays a Case

There's no waiting period to sit through. What actually determines an Illinois case's length is how quickly the paperwork moves and whether the spouses agree. A case that doesn't qualify for the Joint Simplified Dissolution Procedure proceeds through the standard dissolution process instead. Common disqualifiers are a marriage longer than eight years, children, or exceeding the property or income caps. That process takes as long as service, any required disclosures, and court scheduling allow. A dispute over property, parenting time, or support that can't be resolved by agreement moves the case onto the regular contested docket. That's the biggest single driver of a longer timeline in Illinois.