Naperville Divorce & Family Law Attorney

Where Naperville cases are heard

Naperville sits in DuPage County, and DuPage domestic relations cases are handled by the 18th Judicial Circuit at the DuPage County Judicial Center, 505 N. County Farm Rd., Wheaton, IL 60187. The Domestic Relations Division office is Room 2015, and domestic relations cases are heard in Courtroom 2002. The division can be reached at (630) 407-8904. Division information is posted at the 18th Judicial Circuit's domestic relations page.

Venue in an Illinois dissolution is governed by 750 ILCS 5/104: the case is filed in the county where either party resides. If you live in Naperville and your spouse has moved, you may have a choice of counties, and that choice affects which local programs apply to you. Before a judgment of dissolution can enter, 750 ILCS 5/401 requires 90 days of Illinois residency (or military presence in the state).

If you are handling part of the case without a lawyer, the circuit operates a Domestic Relations Pro Se Court and law library help desks; details are at the court's pro se court page. Those desks do not replace advice about your own case, but they can help you understand what a form is for before you sign it.

Naperville straddles DuPage and Will County

Naperville straddles DuPage and Will counties, so your street address determines which county your residence sits in. That matters because venue under 750 ILCS 5/104 follows where a party resides, and because the parenting education, mediation, and help-desk programs described on this page are DuPage County programs tied to the 18th Judicial Circuit.

• Check which county your Naperville address is in before you file or respond. Your property tax bill and voter registration both identify the county.
• If you are on the DuPage side, the Wheaton courthouse and the DuPage County Family Center programs below apply to your case.
• If you and the other parent live on opposite sides of the county line, either county where a party resides can be a proper venue. Which one your case lands in changes the required class, the mediation provider, and the courthouse you drive to.
• If a case was already filed, the county named in the caption controls, even if it is not the county you expected.

Raise this on your first call. It is easier to sort out before a petition is filed than after.

What the court asks of Naperville parents

Parenting education. DuPage County's court-approved program is Caring, Coping and Children, run through the DuPage County Family Center for all divorcing and never-married parents. It is delivered as an online co-parenting course, with registration at fcreg.dupagecounty.gov, and it is offered in English and Spanish. Illinois requires a court-approved parenting education program for parents in dissolution cases under 750 ILCS 5/404.1, and Illinois Supreme Court Rule 924 addresses parenting education programs. Register early; the course is easier to finish before hearings stack up than during them.

Mediation. The DuPage County Family Center, 422 N. County Farm Rd., Wheaton, IL 60187, sits across County Farm Road from the courthouse and can be reached at (630) 407-2450. The Family Center also provides supervised parenting time, neutral exchange, and the PEACE class. Its hours are Monday–Tuesday 8:30–5, Wednesday–Friday 8:30–9 p.m., Saturday 8–12:30, and Sunday 3–8 p.m., so evening and weekend appointments exist if you work daytime hours. Illinois Supreme Court Rule 905 governs court-annexed mediation programs in these cases. Program information is at the DuPage County Family Center page.

A parenting plan. Under 750 ILCS 5/602.10, each parent files a proposed parenting plan within 120 days after service or filing. The plan covers significant decision-making responsibilities under 750 ILCS 5/602.5. Start a calendar now — actual work schedules, school calendars, holidays, and exchanges — because a plan built from real weeks holds up better than one drafted from memory.

Financial disclosure and money issues. Property division runs under 750 ILCS 5/503, maintenance under 750 ILCS 5/504 including the guideline formula at 504(b-1), and child support under the income shares approach in 750 ILCS 5/505. Begin pulling account statements, pay records, tax returns, and business documents before your first meeting.

If you need something now. Temporary relief, including temporary support and exclusive possession of the marital residence under 750 ILCS 5/501(c-2), is available while the case is pending. Where a child is seriously endangered, 750 ILCS 5/603.10 allows restriction of parental responsibilities. After judgment, 750 ILCS 5/510 governs modification of support and of allocation judgments, and 750 ILCS 5/609.2 governs relocation — for a parent in DuPage or Will County, a move of more than 25 miles, or 25 miles out of state.

Local help in and around Naperville

• DuPage Legal Aid — (630) 653-6212, dupagelegalaid.org. Start here if cost is the obstacle to getting advice.
• Family Shelter Service (Metropolitan Family Services) — hotline (630) 469-5650. Listed among the circuit's resources for victims of domestic violence.
• Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline — (877) 863-6338, available statewide.
• DuPage County Family Center — (630) 407-2450, 422 N. County Farm Rd., Wheaton, for parenting education registration, mediation, supervised parenting time, neutral exchange, and the PEACE class.
• Domestic Relations Pro Se Court and law library help desks at the Judicial Center, for procedural questions and forms.

Orders of protection are available under 750 ILCS 60/214, which sets out the remedies a court can order, and 750 ILCS 60/217, which allows an emergency order without prior notice to the other party. If you are in immediate danger, call the hotlines above first and handle the filing second.

Working with this office

Jonathan D. Steele practices at Beermann LLP, 161 N. Clark St., Suite 3000, Chicago, IL 60601, (312) 621-4394. The practice covers divorce, allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time, child support and maintenance, orders of protection, and post-decree enforcement, with particular experience in cases that turn on financial records and digital evidence — concealed assets and crypto, message and parenting-app records, spyware and account intrusions. Jonathan holds cybersecurity credentials: CompTIA Security+, ISC2 CC, and EC-Council CEH.

How to start. Prospects begin with a short online form. The office runs a conflict check and calls back, and a 15-minute screening call can be booked online. Use that call to describe what has already happened — anything filed, served, or agreed to — and what you need decided first.

What to have ready. Any papers you have been served with, recent pay records and tax returns, a list of accounts and debts in either name, and a rough calendar of who has been caring for the children on which days. If you believe accounts, devices, or a parenting app have been accessed without your permission, say so early and preserve the devices and messages rather than deleting anything.