Joint simplified dissolution in Illinois and who qualifies

Illinois has a short track for divorces where there is genuinely nothing to fight about. It is called joint simplified dissolution, it lives in Part IV-A of the Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, and it collapses the whole case into one joint petition and one hearing.

The eligibility rules are strict enough that most couples do not qualify, and the ones who do often do not know it exists.

What is joint simplified dissolution in Illinois?

A separate procedure, not a shortcut through the ordinary one. Section 451 says that in any proceeding under Part IV-A, the provisions of Part IV-A control where they conflict with the rest of the Act.

You and your spouse file a joint petition together. Neither of you sues the other, so there is no petitioner and respondent, no summons and no service. You use the forms the circuit court clerk provides, the clerk submits the petition to the court, and the court is directed to consider the cause expeditiously.

Who qualifies for joint simplified dissolution in Illinois?

Section 452 lists eleven conditions, and you have to certify that all of them existed when the proceeding was commenced.

• Support. Neither party is dependent on the other for support, or each is willing to waive the right to support, and both understand that talking to a lawyer may help them work out whether they are eligible for spousal support.

• Residency. Either party meets the 90 day residency or military presence requirement of section 401.

• Grounds. The section 401 requirements on proof of irreconcilable differences have been met.

• No children. No children were born of the parties' relationship or adopted by them during the marriage, and the wife, to her knowledge, is not pregnant by the husband.

• Marriage length. The duration of the marriage does not exceed 8 years.

• No real estate, almost no retirement. Neither party has any interest in real property or retirement benefits, unless the retirement benefits are held exclusively in individual retirement accounts and their combined value is less than $10,000.

• Maintenance waived. The parties waive any rights to maintenance.

• Property under $50,000. The total fair market value of all marital property, after deducting all encumbrances, is less than $50,000.

• Combined income under $60,000. The combined gross annualized income from all sources is less than $60,000.

• Neither party over $30,000. Neither party has a gross annualized income from all sources in excess of $30,000.

• Full disclosure and a written agreement. The parties have disclosed all assets and liabilities to each other along with tax returns for every year of the marriage, and have executed a written agreement dividing every asset worth more than $100 and allocating responsibility for debts, plus a separate written agreement allocating ownership of and responsibility for any companion animals.

Read the money conditions together and the shape becomes clear. This track is built for a short marriage between two people who rent, have modest jobs, no children and a car each.

What disqualifies you from joint simplified dissolution in Illinois?

The three that catch most couples are a house, a 401(k) and nine years of marriage. Owning any interest in real property ends it. So does having retirement benefits in anything other than IRAs, or IRAs adding up to $10,000 or more. So does a ninth anniversary.

The income limits catch the rest. Two people earning $32,000 each are over both the $60,000 combined ceiling and the $30,000 individual ceiling, and there is no proration for a partial year.

What happens at a joint simplified dissolution hearing?

Both of you show up. Section 453 requires both parties to appear in person before the court and, if the court so directs, to testify. The court examines the petition and the parties, finds the agreement not unconscionable, and enters a judgment granting the dissolution if the Part IV-A requirements are met.

Two details make it lighter than an ordinary prove-up. No transcript of proceedings is required. And on entry of the judgment and payment of the fee, the clerk furnishes each party a certified copy of the final judgment.

You also hand up one more document. Section 454 requires an affidavit executed by both parties at the time of the hearing, stating that all property has been divided in accordance with your agreement and that you have executed every document needed to carry it out. Sign that before you have actually transferred the car title and you are swearing to something that is not yet true.

What should you think about before choosing joint simplified dissolution?

The maintenance waiver, mostly, and the statute tells the clerk to warn you about it in as many words.

Section 457 lists what the clerk's explanatory brochure has to say, and the list reads like a set of warnings because that is what it is:

• It is in the best interests of each party to consult an attorney, and lawyers are available

• The brochure is a guide for self-representation and should not be relied on exclusively

• If the parties waive their rights to maintenance, neither party can ever obtain maintenance from the other

• The nature and availability of counseling services

• In boldface, that a judgment permanently adjudicates all financial rights arising out of the marriage, including the right to property in a spouse's name and the right to support, that the judgment is final, and that the parties waive their right to appeal, except that neither is barred from moving to set the judgment aside for fraud, duress, accident, mistake or other grounds at law or in equity

• That you remain married and cannot remarry until the judgment dissolving the marriage is entered

Permanently is the word to sit with. Maintenance in an ordinary Illinois divorce can be reserved, reviewed or modified later. Here it is gone.

Is joint simplified dissolution right for your case?

It is right when the eligibility list describes you accurately and nothing about your finances is in dispute. If you are close to any of the limits, or if either of you suspects the other has not disclosed something, the ordinary uncontested route is slower and considerably safer. It keeps maintenance on the table, allows a full financial exchange, and does not ask you to certify eleven things under oath.

The other reason to think twice is disclosure. Part IV-A requires you to have disclosed all assets, liabilities and tax returns to each other, but it does not build any mechanism for checking. There is no discovery, no subpoena, no financial affidavit filed with the court. If you do not already have a complete picture of what your spouse owns and earns, this track will not give you one. The financial affidavit chapter covers the tools you give up by taking it.