There are two types of divorce claims in Will County, known as contested and uncontested divorce. Their difference ultimately lies in the manner in which the judgment is entered. While other states may possess other types of separations based on what caused the marriage to end, Illinois is known as a no-fault state, meaning that the reason why a marriage is ending will have no impact on whether a divorce can take place.

If you wish to file for divorce, you may proceed to do so regardless of the other party’s wishes. Read on to learn more about the different types of divorce claims in Will County, as well as the ways a professional family attorney could offer you their skilled representation today.

Uncontested Divorce

Of the two types of divorce claims in Will County, an uncontested divorce will most likely be resolved more quickly. If you have reached a written agreement on all issues, then you are pursuing an uncontested divorce. That means, if you have children, you have written down a parenting plan that can be followed, you have agreed on an allocation judgment determining how the major decisions are made, and you have created a marital settlement agreement, which is a separate document that divides all the finances between the parties.

This agreement includes the division of all your debts and retirements, it determines if maintenance is paid, and what your child support amounts will be if appropriate. If the you have put those documents into writing and reached an agreement on your own, you will appear in court for what is called a prove-up. A prove-up simply means that an agreement has been reached on all issues and both parties understand what they are consenting to while proceeding with their divorce.

Contested Divorce

A contested divorce, on the other hand, is when the parties have a disagreement about one or more issues. As a result, a separating couple ultimately has to go to trial to ask the judge to determine the outcome. Most of the time, cases may start off contested and move to uncontested after negotiation or mediation. An experienced family attorney can make sure that you and your spouse have thoroughly discussed everything in regards to your division of assets.

If you have children, the largest and most important component of your divorce plan includes the agreements regarding their future. If you are able to agree on those documents out of court, even if you do not fully agree on all other subjects, the divorce will be able to proceed much more smoothly. On average, a contested divorce tends to take longer to resolve when considering both types of divorce claims in Will County.

Illinois’ No-Fault Laws

While many divorces may come about due to miscommunication problems, income problems can often cause stresses over time as well. However, the state of Illinois ultimately determines the causes for divorce filing. From a legal perspective, everything is considered no-fault, meaning that the causes for ending a marriage are not taken into account. This is because when Illinois was a fault-based state, it could be very difficult to allocate a percentage of blame onto a party based upon one’s conduct over time. For this reason, all types of divorce claims in Will County are considered no-fault cases.

If you wish to learn more about the different types of divorce claims in Will County and how they could affect your separation, consider retaining the representation of a dedicated family attorney today for assistance.