Will County Divorce & Family Law Attorney

Where Will County cases are heard

Will County is part of the 12th Judicial Circuit. Divorce, allocation of parental responsibilities, child support, maintenance and order-of-protection matters for Will County residents are handled at the Will County Courthouse, 100 W. Jefferson St., Joliet, IL 60432. The courthouse sits downtown at Jefferson and Ottawa. The main number is (815) 727-8592, and public hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Venue is set by statute: under 750 ILCS 5/104, a dissolution case is filed in the county where either party resides. If you live in Will County, this courthouse is the right place to file even if your spouse has moved to another county. Before a judge can enter a judgment of dissolution, 750 ILCS 5/401 requires that one spouse have been an Illinois resident (or stationed here in the military) for 90 days.

Before you make the trip, confirm current filing procedures and courtroom information with the clerk or the court directory listing for the building: Will County Courthouse listing, Illinois Courts directory. If your matter is urgent — an emergency order of protection under 750 ILCS 60/217 can be entered without prior notice to the other party — go to the courthouse during the hours above rather than waiting for a scheduled date.

What the Will County court will require of you

Two requirements catch most parents by surprise, and both are easier to handle early.

• Parenting education. Parents in a dissolution case complete a court-approved parenting education program under 750 ILCS 5/404.1 and Illinois Supreme Court Rule 924. Will County accepts a court-approved parenting class, including an online option through the Center for Divorce Education listed by the Circuit Clerk. Start it as soon as your case is filed; the certificate is something the court will look for, and finishing it early keeps it off your list of open items. Details and the approved list: Will County approved parenting class information.
• Mediation. Contested parenting issues in Will County are referred to mediation under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 905. The court maintains a roster of family mediators, administered through the Family Division at the Will County Courthouse, (815) 727-8592. See the court's family mediator page. Mediation addresses parenting time and decision-making; it is not where property or support gets decided.

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 decision-making responsibilities under 750 ILCS 5/602.5 — schooling, health care, religion, extracurriculars — and the parenting time schedule under 750 ILCS 5/602.7. If the parents agree, one joint plan can be filed.

Financial disclosure. Property division under 750 ILCS 5/503, maintenance under 750 ILCS 5/504 (including the guideline formula in 504(b-1)) and child support under 750 ILCS 5/505 all run on documented income and assets. Begin gathering pay records, tax returns, account statements, retirement and business records now. If money is tight while the case is pending, 750 ILCS 5/501 allows temporary relief, including temporary support and exclusive possession of the marital residence under 501(c-2). Temporary parenting orders are available under 750 ILCS 5/603.5, and where a child is seriously endangered, restrictions can be sought under 750 ILCS 5/603.10.

Moving with a child. Will County is one of the counties named in 750 ILCS 5/609.2: a move of more than 25 miles from Will County, or 25 miles out of state, is a relocation requiring notice and, if contested, court approval. Ask before you sign a lease.

After the judgment. Support and allocation judgments can be changed under 750 ILCS 5/510 when circumstances warrant. Post-decree enforcement is filed in the same courthouse.

Local help in Will County

• Prairie State Legal Services (Joliet office) — civil legal aid for income-qualifying residents, (815) 965-2134, pslegal.org. If cost is the barrier to filing, call them before you conclude nothing can be done.
• Guardian Angel Community Services — local domestic-violence services, hotline (815) 729-1228, gacsprograms.org. Advocates can help you plan for safety and prepare for a protection-order hearing.
• Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline — (877) 863-6338, statewide, around-the-clock. Hotline list.
• Family Division, Will County Courthouse — (815) 727-8592, for mediator roster questions and court services information.

Orders of protection carry a specific set of remedies under 750 ILCS 60/214, including remedies affecting contact, residence and parenting time. An emergency order under 750 ILCS 60/217 can be entered the same day, without prior notice, and is followed by a hearing with both parties present.

Working with this office

Jonathan D. Steele practices at Beermann LLP, 161 N. Clark St., Suite 3000, Chicago, IL 60601, (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. He holds cybersecurity credentials (CompTIA Security+, ISC2 CC, EC-Council CEH), which matters when the disputed facts live in account histories, devices and exported message logs rather than in testimony.

To start: complete the short online form. The office runs a conflict check and calls back, and you can book a 15-minute screening call online. That call is a screening conversation, not legal advice on your case.

What helps before the call, if you have it: the county where each spouse lives, whether anything has already been filed in Joliet, the ages of any children, a rough list of accounts and debts, and any dates already set by the court. If there is a safety concern, say so at the start so the conversation can be sequenced around it.