The pitfalls of filing for divorce pro se in Cook County

 Posted on September 10, 2013 in Divorce

Experienced legal representation is important if you are filing for divorce in Cook County. Many spouses attempt to file for divorce without legal help (also known as pro se) and end up having their claims dismissed because of technicalities.

This is exactly what happened to one Burbank woman. The woman's marriage broke down in spring of 2009 and she filed for divorce in May of that year.

During the divorce proceedings the woman represented herself and received an unfavorable distribution of the marital assets. The woman alleges that court considered inaccurate figures to evaluate her husband's stock holding and failed to take taxes into consideration when awarding her their Chicago home.

A number of filing errors prevented an appeals court from reviewing the substantive issues raised by the woman's appeal. Specifically the woman failed to provide the appeals court with a record of the trial court proceedings as required by Supreme Court Rule 321. Ill. S.Ct. R. 321. She also failed to properly serve her husband with attachments that she wanted included on her appellate record.