Woodstock Divorce & Family Law Attorney

Where a Woodstock case is heard

Woodstock is in McHenry County, so family cases for Woodstock residents go to the 22nd Judicial Circuit. The courthouse is the Michael J. Sullivan Judicial Center, 2200 N. Seminary Ave., Woodstock, IL 60098, open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

• Family Division: (815) 334-4190
• Courthouse main line: (815) 334-4385
• Family Division information: 22ndcircuitil.gov/family-division/

Venue in a dissolution case is the county where either spouse resides (750 ILCS 5/104), so McHenry County is a proper place for a Woodstock resident to file. Before the court can enter a judgment of dissolution, one spouse must have been an Illinois resident, or present here on military assignment, for 90 days (750 ILCS 5/401).

Call before you drive over with paperwork. The Family Division line can tell you what the clerk needs for a particular filing and how your matter is being scheduled. The circuit also runs a Self-Represented Litigant Help Center for people without a lawyer.

What the McHenry County court will require of you

Parenting education. Illinois requires parents in dissolution cases to complete a court-approved parenting education program (750 ILCS 5/404.1; see also Illinois Supreme Court Rule 924). In McHenry County the program is Focus on the Kids, run through McHenry County College. It applies to any parent in a divorce or post-divorce proceeding with minor children, and to parentage cases when the court orders it. It is a four-hour in-person class at the Catalyst Campus, 222 E. Church St., Woodstock, at $90 per person. Register at (815) 479-7591 or focusonthekids@mchenry.edu, or through mchenry.edu/focusonkids/. Register early rather than waiting for a status date where the judge asks whether you have done it.

Mediation. Contested parenting issues go to court-appointed neutral mediators through the Family Division (Illinois Supreme Court Rule 905 governs circuit mediation programs for allocation disputes). For high-conflict matters the circuit also has a parenting coordinator program under Local Rule 11.14. Mediation addresses decision-making and parenting time, not division of property.

A parenting plan. Each parent must file a proposed parenting plan within 120 days after service or filing (750 ILCS 5/602.10). The plan covers significant decision-making responsibilities (750 ILCS 5/602.5) and parenting time (750 ILCS 5/602.7). If you agree on a plan, the court reviews it; if not, the disputed parts are what mediation and, if needed, a hearing resolve.

Financial disclosure. Property division (750 ILCS 5/503), child support under the income shares calculation (750 ILCS 5/505) and maintenance, including the guideline formula under 750 ILCS 5/504(b-1), all run on documented income and assets. Start gathering tax returns, pay records, bank and retirement statements, and loan applications now; they are easier to collect before a case is on file than after.

Relief you can ask for early. Temporary support and exclusive possession of the marital residence are available under 750 ILCS 5/501, including 501(c-2). A temporary allocation of parental responsibilities is available under 750 ILCS 5/603.5. Where a child is seriously endangered, the court can restrict parental responsibilities under 750 ILCS 5/603.10. After judgment, support and allocation judgments can be modified under 750 ILCS 5/510.

Moving with a child. Because Woodstock is in McHenry County, a move of more than 25 miles is a relocation requiring notice and, if the other parent objects, court approval (750 ILCS 5/609.2). A move of more than 25 miles out of state is also a relocation. Read that statute before you sign a lease elsewhere.

Local help in and around Woodstock

If you are in danger. Turning Point has a hotline at (815) 338-8081 and legal advocacy that includes help filing emergency orders of protection (turnpt.org). The statewide Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline is (877) 863-6338. Emergency orders of protection can be entered without prior notice to the other party (750 ILCS 60/217), and the remedies a court can order are listed at 750 ILCS 60/214. Call the courthouse at (815) 334-4385 about presenting an emergency petition during business hours.

If cost is the obstacle. Prairie State Legal Services has a McHenry office at (815) 965-2134 (pslegal.org). They screen for eligibility, so call early rather than the week of a court date.

If you are proceeding without a lawyer. The 22nd Circuit's Self-Represented Litigant Help Center is described on the Family Division page.

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).

How to start. Prospects begin with a short online form. The office runs a conflict check and calls you back, and a 15-minute screening call can be booked online. That call is for deciding whether the matter is a fit and what the next step should be.

What to have ready. The county you and the other party live in, whether anything has already been filed in McHenry County, the ages of any children and the current week-to-week schedule, whether there is an existing order of protection, and a rough picture of income and assets. If you believe accounts or devices have been accessed without your permission, say so on the first call.