In Which County Should Your Divorce Be Filed?

Some attorneys feel that DuPage County favors the spouse with less income compared to Cook County. Although I am not aware of any hard data tracking it, there is a perception that housewives get better awards of maintenance (“alimony”) in DuPage, which is considered a Republican county, compared to Chicago. Thus, in preparation for divorce some breadwinning DuPage County spouses will rent an apartment in Chicago so that they may file for divorce in Chicago. In a recent Illinois case, the court held that DuPage County was the proper forum for the divorce as the marital residence was in DuPage County and the wife and the children remained in DuPage County. Further, the husband maintained an apartment in DuPage County to facilitate his visitation with his children. The husband rented an apartment in Chicago, where he worked, a few weeks before filing for divorce. The wife argued, through her attorney, that it takes almost 2 hours to get to the Cook County court house from her home and she has to get the children to school in the mornings and the children have after-school activities in the afternoon. The husband argued, through his attorney, that he works near the Cook County court house in Chicago, that he is the breadwinner and he would not be compensated for his travel time to the DuPage County court house. The husband argued that the wife would not suffer financially for traveling to Cook County. In granting the wife’s motion to dismiss due to forum non conveniens, the court reasoned that should there be a dispute regarding custody or property, the potential witnesses, such as teachers and doctors, and documents would be in DuPage County. The husband’s attorney argued on appeal that the wife failed to file her forum non conveniens motion within 90 days of the last day allowed for filing her answer, as required by Illinois Supreme Court Rule 186. The appellate court held the husband waived that argument since he failed to raise it with the trial court.