Customer Reviews

How to File for Divorce in Illinois

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For any couple seeking a divorce, especially an uncontested divorce, it is important to know that there is an alternative to retaining a high-cost attorney. It can be, in many cases, quite simple to file for divorce on your own. Yet there is little information available on exactly how one goes about doing this. Unfortunately, this how-to book does a relatively poor job of filling this gap.

This book's particular problem is that it is high on filler and low on substance. For example, while the authors devote a most unnecessary section to the difficulties of reentering the dating scene, they say nothing when it comes to explicating the meaning of the important phrase "to live separate and apart." That this phrase does not preclude living under the same roof can be significant for those who are interested in expediting the two-year or 6-month waiting period.

To many, the book's most attractive feature is the many forms it has in its appendix. Unfortunately, one will find in the text only the sketchiest of details on exactly which forms one needs to file. What's even more aggravating is that a few of the forms in the appendix receive no mention in the text whatsoever. The reader should also be aware that the court clerks of some counties (e.g., Cook County) won't even accept these forms.

Contact your court clerk's office before buying this book. You might find that you've saved yourself another twenty bucks on top of the attorney's fees.

I recently bought the 3rd edition by Diana Brodman Summers. It is a clear, well-organized description of Illinois Divorce Law that includes sample forms for Cook and DuPage counties. The author warns that the law is changing all the time so you need to obtain the most current versions from the office of your Circuit Court. Appendix A lists contact information for all 22 circuit courts and the counties each court serves. Included are web site addresses for the Clerks of Cook and DuPage County. I was able to download the most recent versions as PDF files from the DuPage County Clerks web site. There is no superfluous discussion in the 3rd edition about how to re-enter the dating scene. Even if you ultimately decide to hire an attorney, I think the 3rd edition will educate you well about what your rights are and what you are paying the attorney to do. The author acknowledges the emotional pain of a divorce and advises seeking professional counseling for that, but she sticks to the law. She paints a sympathetic picture of the daily emotional drain on divorce lawyers who hear the horrible things spouses do to each other. I only gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 because I haven't used the book to file my own divorce. After I've gone through the experience with this book to help me, I might write another review.