General Provisions

  1. Law
  2. Illinois Compiled Statutes
  3. FAMILIES
  4. Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act.
  5. General Provisions

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(750 ILCS 5/Pt. I heading)

PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

(750 ILCS 5/101) (from Ch. 40, par. 101)

Sec. 101. Short Title.) This Act may be cited as the "Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act".

(Source: P.A. 86-649.)

 

(750 ILCS 5/102) (from Ch. 40, par. 102)

Sec. 102. Purposes; Rules of Construction. This Act shall be liberally construed and applied to promote its underlying purposes, which are to:

  • (1) provide adequate procedures for the solemnization and registration of marriage;
  • (2) strengthen and preserve the integrity of marriage and safeguard family relationships;
  • (3) promote the amicable settlement of disputes that have arisen between parties to a marriage;
  • (4) mitigate the potential harm to spouses and their children caused by the process of an action brought under this Act, and protect children from exposure to conflict and violence;
  • (5) ensure predictable decision-making for the care of children and for the allocation of parenting time and other parental responsibilities, and avoid prolonged uncertainty by expeditiously resolving issues involving children;
  • (6) recognize the right of children to a healthy relationship with parents, and the responsibility of parents to ensure such a relationship;
  • (7) acknowledge that the determination of children's best interests, and the allocation of parenting time and significant decision-making responsibilities, are among the paramount responsibilities of our system of justice, and to that end:
    • (A) recognize children's right to a strong and healthy relationship with parents, and parents' concomitant right and responsibility to create and maintain such relationships;
    • (B) recognize that, in the absence of domestic violence or any other factor that the court expressly finds to be relevant, proximity to, and frequent contact with, both parents promotes healthy development of children;
    • (C) facilitate parental planning and agreement about the children's upbringing and allocation of parenting time and other parental responsibilities;
    • (D) continue existing parent-child relationships, and secure the maximum involvement and cooperation of parents regarding the physical, mental, moral, and emotional well-being of the children during and after the litigation; and
    • (E) promote or order parents to participate in programs designed to educate parents to:
      • (i) minimize or eliminate rancor and the detrimental effect of litigation in any proceeding involving children; and
      • (ii) facilitate the maximum cooperation of parents in raising their children;
  • (8) make reasonable provision for support during and after an underlying dissolution of marriage, legal separation, parentage, or parental responsibility allocation action, including provision for timely advances of interim fees and costs to all attorneys, experts, and opinion witnesses including guardians ad litem and children's representatives, to achieve substantial parity in parties' access to funds for pre-judgment litigation costs in an action for dissolution of marriage or legal separation;
  • (9) eliminate the consideration of marital misconduct in the adjudication of rights and duties incident to dissolution of marriage, legal separation and declaration of invalidity of marriage; and
  • (10) make provision for the preservation and conservation of marital assets during the litigation.

(Source: P.A. 99-90, eff. 1-1-16.)

 

(750 ILCS 5/103) (from Ch. 40, par. 103)

Sec. 103. Trial by Jury.) There shall be no trial by jury under this Act.

(Source: P.A. 80-923.)

 

(750 ILCS 5/104) (from Ch. 40, par. 104)

Sec. 104. Venue. The proceedings shall be had in the county where the plaintiff or defendant resides, except as otherwise provided herein, but process may be directed to any county in the State. Objection to venue is barred if not made within such time as the defendant's response is due. In no event shall venue be deemed jurisdictional.

In any case brought pursuant to this Act where neither the petitioner nor respondent resides in the county in which the initial pleading is filed, the petitioner shall file with the initial pleading a written motion, which shall be set for hearing and ruled upon before any other issue is taken up, advising that the forum selected is not one of proper venue and seeking an appropriate order from the court allowing a waiver of the venue requirements of this Section.

(Source: P.A. 99-90, eff. 1-1-16.)

 

(750 ILCS 5/105) (from Ch. 40, par. 105)

Sec. 105. Application of Civil Practice Law.)

(a) The provisions of the Civil Practice Law shall apply to all proceedings under this Act, except as otherwise provided in this Act.

(b) A proceeding for dissolution of marriage, legal separation or declaration of invalidity of marriage shall be entitled "In re the Marriage of ... and ...". A parental responsibility allocation or support proceeding shall be entitled "In re the (Parental Responsibility) (Support) of ...".

(c) The initial pleading in all proceedings under this Act shall be denominated a petition. A responsive pleading shall be denominated a response. If new matter by way of defense is pleaded in the response, a reply may be filed by the petitioner, but the failure to reply is not an admission of the legal sufficiency of the new matter. All other pleadings under this Act shall be denominated as provided in the Civil Practice Law.

(d) As used in this Section, "pleadings" includes any petition or motion filed in the dissolution of marriage case which, if independently filed, would constitute a separate cause of action, including, but not limited to, actions for declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and orders of protection. Actions under this subsection are subject to motions filed pursuant to Sections 2-615 and 2-619 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

(Source: P.A. 99-90, eff. 1-1-16.)

 

(750 ILCS 5/106) (from Ch. 40, par. 106)

Sec. 106. Employment of Administrative Aides.) The employment of qualified administrative aides to assist the court of any county in the administration of proceedings hereunder may be provided for by such county as the case may be. All such aides shall be appointed by the authority which provided for them, subject to the approval of a majority of the judges of each court involved, and shall serve for such terms and shall receive such compensation as provided by ordinance.

(a) The administrative aides shall perform such nonjudicial duties with respect to proceedings hereunder and matters ancillary thereto as the court shall direct.

(b) Any county may make such appropriations as may be necessary to provide for the expense and compensation of the administrative aides.

(Source: P.A. 80-923.)

 

(750 ILCS 5/107) (from Ch. 40, par. 107)

Sec. 107. Order of protection; status. Whenever relief is sought under Part V, Part VI or Part VII of this Act, the court shall inquire and parties shall advise the court whether any order of protection has previously been entered in the instant proceeding or any other proceeding in which any party, or a child of any party, or both, if relevant, has been designated as either a petitioner, respondent, or protected person.

(Source: P.A. 99-90, eff. 1-1-16.)


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