Palatine Divorce & Family Law Attorney

Where Palatine cases are heard

Palatine sits in Cook County, and the suburban courthouse that serves it is the Rolling Meadows Courthouse (Third Municipal District), 2121 Euclid Ave., Rolling Meadows, IL 60008. The main number is (847) 818-3000, and hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Domestic relations cases are heard there. The same courthouse serves Arlington Heights, Barrington, Barrington Hills, Bartlett, Buffalo Grove, the Cook portion of Elgin, Elk Grove Village, Hanover Park, Hoffman Estates, Inverness, Mount Prospect, Palatine, Prospect Heights, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, Streamwood, and Wheeling.

You are not locked into the suburbs. A Cook County resident may file a domestic relations case downtown at the Richard J. Daley Center, 50 W. Washington St., Chicago, IL 60602, home of the Domestic Relations Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County. The presiding judge's courtroom is 1905 and the clerk's Domestic Relations office is Room 802. The Division's number is (312) 603-3025; the clerk's number is (312) 603-6441. When a party lives in one of the suburban municipal districts, that district's courthouse is the local option and the downtown location remains available.

Venue rests on residence: under 750 ILCS 5/104, a case is brought in the county where either party resides. If either of you lives in Palatine, Cook County is proper. Separately, 750 ILCS 5/401 requires 90 days of Illinois residency, or military presence in the state, before a judgment of dissolution is entered. That is a judgment requirement, not a bar to filing.

Decide where to file before the first filing, because moving a case later takes a motion and a reason. Clerk's office locations and district assignments are listed at the Clerk of the Circuit Court's suburban districts page.

What Cook County requires of parents and spouses

Parenting education. Cook County runs Focus on Children for litigating parents in dissolution and parentage cases, based on 750 ILCS 5/404.1 and Illinois Supreme Court Rule 924. It is a four-hour in-person class, with Spanish sessions twice a month and interpreters by arrangement; an online alternative, Children In Between Online, is available. The cost is $50 unless waived by the judge. Register through Family Court Services at (312) 603-1540 or DRD.family@cookcountyil.gov with a copy of the court order. Details are on the court's parent education page. Take the class early, so it is a completed item rather than a scheduling problem at your next court date.

Mediation. Mediation is mandatory for initial allocation of parental responsibilities, modification of allocation, relocation, and non-parent visitation. It is discretionary for financial and discovery disputes. For child-related disputes, Family Court Services mediates when the parties cannot agree on a mediator; otherwise you may use a court-certified or agreed private mediator. The contact number is (312) 603-1540. See the mediation program page.

A parenting plan. Under 750 ILCS 5/602.10, a parenting plan is due within 120 days after service or filing. It addresses decision-making under 750 ILCS 5/602.5 and parenting time under 750 ILCS 5/602.7. If you and the other parent agree on a joint plan, file it; if not, each of you files your own.

Money. Property is divided under 750 ILCS 5/503. Maintenance, including the guideline formula at 750 ILCS 5/504(b-1), and child support on the income shares model at 750 ILCS 5/505, both depend on documented income. Expect to produce tax returns, pay records, and account statements. 750 ILCS 5/501 covers temporary relief while the case is pending, including temporary support and exclusive possession of the marital residence under 501(c-2), and 750 ILCS 5/603.5 covers temporary allocation of parental responsibilities. Where a child's safety is at issue, 750 ILCS 5/603.10 allows restriction of parental responsibilities on serious endangerment.

Later changes. Support and allocation judgments can be modified under 750 ILCS 5/510. Moving with a child is governed by 750 ILCS 5/609.2; from Cook County, a move of more than 25 miles is a relocation requiring notice and, if contested, court approval, as is a move of more than 25 miles out of state.

Local help for Palatine residents

If you are in danger. The Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline is (877) 863-6338. The WINGS Program hotline is (847) 221-5680; more information is at wingsprogram.com. Orders of protection are available under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act: 750 ILCS 60/214 sets out the remedies a judge can order, and 750 ILCS 60/217 allows an emergency order without prior notice to the other party. You can seek an order of protection whether or not a divorce case is on file.

Free and low-cost legal help. Legal Aid Chicago can be reached at (312) 341-1070. The CARPLS legal aid hotline is (312) 738-9200 and handles advice by phone.

Family Court Services. The office is at 69 W. Washington St., Suite 1000, Chicago, IL 60602, phone (312) 603-1540. It provides parent education, mediation, evaluations, emergency intervention, and children's support groups. Its page lists current program information. Call before making a trip downtown; much of what you need at the start can be handled by phone or email.

Working with this office

Jonathan D. Steele practices at Beermann LLP, 161 N. Clark St., Suite 3000, Chicago, IL 60601. The office phone is (312) 621-4394.

The work 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 including CompTIA Security+, ISC2 CC, and EC-Council CEH, which matters when the disputed facts live in account records, devices, or logs rather than in testimony.

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. Before that call, have three things in mind: where each of you lives, whether children are involved, and roughly what income and assets are in the picture. If there is a safety concern, say so at the outset so it can be addressed first.

Palatine cases at Rolling Meadows and cases filed downtown are handled from the Clark Street office; the choice of courthouse is one of the first decisions to discuss.