Illinois No-Fault Divorce: What It Means for Your Filing

Illinois eliminated all fault-based grounds for divorce in 2016. You cannot file on grounds of adultery, cruelty, abandonment, or any other marital misconduct. The only legal basis for ending a marriage in Illinois is irreconcilable differences.

What "Irreconcilable Differences" Actually Requires

Under 750 ILCS 5/401(a), the court must find two things:

1. Irreconcilable differences have caused the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage.
2. Reconciliation has failed, or future attempts would be impracticable and not in the family's best interests.

In practice, this is a low bar. Neither spouse needs to prove the other did anything wrong. The petition simply states that the marriage has irretrievably broken down.

The 6-Month Separation Presumption

If both spouses have lived separate and apart for at least six continuous months before the judgment is entered, the court applies an irrebuttable presumption — meaning the requirement is automatically satisfied, and neither side can challenge it.

Two important nuances that trip people up:

Living under the same roof counts. Illinois courts recognize that financial constraints and child-rearing often keep divorcing couples in the same home. You meet the separation standard by ceasing to function as spouses — separate finances, separate bedrooms, no shared social life as a couple.

The six months can overlap with your case. You do not need to wait six months before filing. File when you are ready; the separation clock can run while the case proceeds.

How No-Fault Affects Your Case

Property division: The judge divides marital property in "just proportions" under 750 ILCS 5/503. Marital misconduct is not a factor. Whether one spouse was unfaithful has zero bearing on who keeps the house or how retirement accounts are split.

Maintenance (alimony): Marital misconduct also plays no role in awarding or calculating maintenance under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act.

Parenting allocation: Custody and parenting time are decided based on the child's best interests, not on which parent caused the marriage to fail.

The one exception: dissipation of assets. If one spouse spent marital money on an extramarital partner, gambling, or other non-marital purposes during the breakdown period, the other spouse can file a formal dissipation claim. This is about the money, not the behavior — the court adjusts the property division to account for wasted assets, not to punish misconduct.

Contested Cases Under No-Fault

Even though fault is irrelevant to grounds, contested cases still happen. Spouses can disagree on property values, support amounts, or parenting arrangements. When they do, Illinois requires bifurcated proceedings: the court first determines that irreconcilable differences exist, then separately addresses the disputed financial and custody issues.

Filing Your No-Fault Petition

The Petition for Dissolution of Marriage contains standard language about irreconcilable differences. You do not need to detail what went wrong in the marriage. The petition is factual: names, dates, addresses, whether children are involved, and a statement that the marriage has irretrievably broken down.

The Illinois Divorce Filing Process Guide includes the complete filing sequence — from drafting the petition to the prove-up hearing where the judge confirms the no-fault grounds are established.

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