With the ease of file electronically and appearing remotely, we see more and more lawyers handle divorce matters in the collar counties. Often, we see a race to file electronically in the chosen venue to establish venue. Before the passage of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act in 1977, if a divorce or legal separation action was filed in the wrong venue, the court acquired no jurisdiction and thus the decree that was entered was void. The IMDMA, however, specifically states that venue is no longer jurisdictional. 750 ILCS 5/104.
Here the Gitlin Law Firm provides a primer on venue for divorce purposes.
For cases under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, the venue statute provides:
(750 ILCS 5/104)
Sec. 104. Venue. The proceedings shall be had in the county where the plaintiff or defendant resides, except as otherwise provided herein, but process may be directed to any county in the State. Objection to venue is barred if not made within such time as the defendant’s response is due. In no event shall venue be deemed jurisdictional.
In any case brought pursuant to this Act where neither the petitioner nor respondent resides in the county in which the initial pleading is filed, the petitioner shall file with the initial pleading a written motion, which shall be set for hearing and ruled upon before any other issue is taken up, advising that the forum selected is not one of proper venue and seeking an appropriate order from the court allowing a waiver of the venue requirements of this Section.
The provisions added by the Rewrite that codified Illinois caselaw are underlined.
For the purposes of cases under the Illinois Parentage Act of 2015, there is a simple venue statute.
(750 ILCS 46/604)
Sec. 604. Venue.
(a) [Venue to Adjudicate Parentage Generally] Venue for a proceeding to adjudicate parentage is any county of this State in which a party resides, or if the presumed or alleged father is deceased, in which a proceeding for probate or administration of the presumed or alleged father’s estate has been commenced, or could be commenced.
(b) [County where child resides] A proceeding for the allocation of parental responsibilities is commenced in the county where the child resides.
For an in-depth discussion of venue issues in Illinois divorce and parentage cases, see Gitlin on Divorce: A Guide to Illinois Family Law. Chapter 3 addresses Venue and Substitutions of Judge in Illinois divorce cases. It also addresses the complex issues involved in post-decree venue issues when one or both of the parties have moved to a different county following the divorce.
