Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois

Re: When can I file in IL?

You can file now. BUT, since your spouse in the military, and there are important safeguards for those in the military, you will need his approval to make this process smooth. What does the spouse think about a divorce?

Re: When can I file in IL?

You have to have been a resident of IL for at least 90 days. So you likely could file for a divorce in IL. There are two difficult issues though: first, would an IL court have jurisdiction over your spouse; second, would your spouse agree to proceed.

The jurisdiction issue is important if you have children and your spouse might be ordered to pay child support. If IL doesn't have jurisdiction over your spouse a child support order can't be enforced against him/her. If there's not a child support issue then it probably doesn't matter.

Second, an active duty member of the military can always decide he/she wants to delay the case until she's off active duty. So you might see how your spouse feels about this because if not you might file a case and then it would be delayed until he/she is off active duty.

Divorcing a member of he military is a bit more involved than your everyday divorce case.