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Illinois Family Court: Custody and Parenting-Time Guide

Plain-language Illinois information for a custody or parenting-time route, including filing, official forms, free help, fee waivers, and legal-cost context.

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This page provides general legal information, not legal advice. State law, court rules, forms, and local procedures can change. Confirm current requirements with the court handling the case.

State laws, court rules, and forms can change. Automated link checks will run every week once the monitoring job is deployed. Please check each cited source before relying on it. Report a broken link or changed law.

Find the right family court

The custody or parenting-time route described in this guide is handled through the Illinois Circuit Court. Other family-law matters can follow a different court or procedure.

Find the court for your area.

  • Illinois Courts describes the circuit court as the court of original jurisdiction and provides a statewide court directory.Sources:Circuit Court, Courts Directory

How Illinois courts decide custody

Illinois law calls the court’s allocation of significant decision-making responsibilities an allocation of parental responsibilities.Sources:750 ILCS 5/602.5

  • Illinois law directs the court to allocate significant decision-making responsibilities according to the child’s best interests and says that each parent need not receive those responsibilities.Sources:750 ILCS 5/602.5

Key legal sources

  • Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act § 602.5(a)Sources:750 ILCS 5/602.5

Parenting time

Illinois law uses the term parenting time and directs the court to allocate it according to the child’s best interests.Sources:750 ILCS 5/602.7

  • A mutually agreed written parenting plan still requires court approval; otherwise, the court allocates parenting time under the statute’s stated standards and conditions.Sources:750 ILCS 5/602.7

Key legal sources

  • Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act § 602.7(a)-(b)Sources:750 ILCS 5/602.7

How to file

This draft covers the Illinois Courts Divorce with Children instruction route for an initial dissolution when the parties have children described in that instruction. It excludes no-children cases, pregnancy, a pending divorce case, active-duty or outside-the-United-States spouse cases without a filed Appearance, legal separation, invalidity, parentage, allocation-only, modification, enforcement, emergency, interstate, nonparent, and child-protection proceedings.Sources:How To Get a Divorce with Children Instructions (DV-I 102.3)

  1. Confirm that the instruction route fits

    The Illinois Courts instruction identifies the children, residence, and case-status conditions for its Divorce with Children route and tells readers not to use it for the excluded situations. The court’s current forms page lists the associated statewide forms.Sources:How To Get a Divorce with Children Instructions (DV-I 102.3), Divorce, Child Support, and Maintenance

  2. Start the case with the two listed filing documents

    The instruction directs the filer to submit a Petition for Divorce and a Certificate of Dissolution of Marriage/Civil Union to the Circuit Clerk in the county where either spouse lives. It describes electronic filing as the ordinary method and identifies the stated e-filing exceptions.Sources:How To Get a Divorce with Children Instructions (DV-I 102.3)

  3. Use the applicable notice path for the other spouse

    The instruction describes two paths: the other spouse may sign and file an Appearance (Divorce), or the filer uses a Summons and a copy of the Petition through the sheriff process described in the instruction. The summons path has return-of-service and county-specific follow-up details; an Appearance avoids sheriff service.Sources:How To Get a Divorce with Children Instructions (DV-I 102.3)

  4. Prepare the applicable parenting-plan and response materials

    Section 602.10 and the instruction describe parenting-plan timing, extensions, no-appearance, mediation, and court-order conditions. If the other spouse does not file an Appearance or Answer or Response within the instruction’s stated period after service, the instruction identifies a Motion for Default and Order for Default; confirm the court-date process with the Circuit Clerk.Sources:750 ILCS 5/602.10, How To Get a Divorce with Children Instructions (DV-I 102.3)

  5. Use the instruction’s agreement or no-agreement final-order path

    The instruction describes a prove-up for an agreement and a trial when issues remain unresolved. It identifies the Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage/Civil Union and Parenting Plan, plus an Order for Support when applicable, for the final hearing; the judge signs the orders that are entered. County requirements can add documents or procedures.Sources:How To Get a Divorce with Children Instructions (DV-I 102.3)

Official forms

Open the official forms portal.

Free court self-help

Find court self-help near you.

  • Prairie State Legal Services

    Area served: The provider says it serves people in poverty across 36 counties in Northern and Central Illinois.

    Prairie State Legal Services describes free legal help for people with limited resources and provides an online application link.Sources:Prairie State Legal Services

    Eligibility: The provider’s description is limited to people with low income, older adults, and other people it identifies as vulnerable. Confirm current case-type, county, income, and capacity limits with the provider.

  • Land of Lincoln Legal Aid

    Area served: The provider describes family-law help across its 65-county central and southern Illinois service area.

    Land of Lincoln Legal Aid says it handles certain serious family-law matters, including specified divorce and custody matters.Sources:Family Law, FAQs

    Eligibility: The provider says family-law availability depends on the legal problem, case information, and staff availability, and it applies its stated financial, county, and intake screening factors.

Fee waivers

Illinois law allows an eligible person to request a full or partial waiver of court fees, costs, and charges in a civil action, subject to the statute and Supreme Court rule.Sources:735 ILCS 5/5-105, Fee Waiver for Civil Cases

Who may qualify

  • The statute identifies public-benefit, income, and hardship routes and provides for full or partial waivers under its stated criteria; it does not make every request automatic.Sources:735 ILCS 5/5-105

What to do

  1. Use the current civil fee-waiver materials if applicable

    Illinois Courts publishes an Application for Waiver of Court Fees and an Order on Application for Waiver of Court Fees in its civil fee-waiver suite. The court considers the request under the governing statute and rules.Sources:Fee Waiver for Civil Cases, 735 ILCS 5/5-105

Official fee-waiver forms

Key statute or rule

Attorney cost benchmark

Lawyer fees vary by county, experience, services, and the facts of a case. This state benchmark is context for planning, not a quote.

State and local details to confirm

  • Illinois uses allocation of parental responsibilities, significant decision-making responsibilities, and parenting time in the cited statute rather than treating custody labels as a complete description of the governing framework.Sources:750 ILCS 5/602.5, 750 ILCS 5/602.7

  • The Illinois Courts Divorce with Children instruction says that counties may have special requirements not covered by the statewide instruction; confirm those local requirements with the Circuit Clerk.Sources:How To Get a Divorce with Children Instructions (DV-I 102.3)

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