Chicago Child Support Lawyer

Aggressive Pursuit of Fair Outcomes During and After Divorce by a Child Support Attorney

Parents are obligated to support their children until they reach the age of 18, although it’s possible for a court to order support for a child obtaining higher education. It can be a long time from the date of your divorce until these obligations end, and during those years, your children’s needs and your financial situation are likely to change. For capable and concerned legal counsel regarding child custody matters from divorce to post-judgment modification and enforcement actions, you can rely on Arami Law.

What is Covered by Illinois Child Support Law?

Illinois law recognizes a child’s right to receive financial support from both parents, but this does not mean child support is calculated based on parental income alone. The marital settlement will name one parent as the “obligor,” and this parent will be required to pay a portion of their income to the other parent to help cover the child’s expenses. Most often, the obligor is a noncustodial parent, and it is assumed that the custodial parent is already contributing to the child financially. The goal of child support is to give the child(ren) the same quality of life they would have enjoyed if the parents had remained married.

Child support in Illinois is calculated using a precise formula detailed by law, but courts still have the discretion to require obligors to pay amounts in excess of this to support the child’s current lifestyle or needs, including:

Tuition for private schooling
College costs and living expenses
Sports travel teams, summer programs, and other enriching activities

Child support orders can also vary depending on the needs of the individual child or children involved. For example, if a couple has a special needs child, then the obligor may be required to pay more to help cover the child’s medical expenses.

Arami Law Helps with Modification and Enforcement of Child Support Orders

To ensure that children receive the support they are entitled to, Illinois courts have established a detailed system for collecting and recording child support payments, and enforcement capabilities for when an obligor refuses to pay despite having the means to do so. The court may be able to garnish wages or tax refunds and in extreme cases, they may even send obligors to jail. It’s never a good idea to fall behind on child support payments, yet many obligors do become delinquent, often for the following reasons:

Retaliation

— Many obligors have the mistaken notion that child support payments are linked to their visitation rights, so when custodial parents interfere with the noncustodial parent’s time with the children, the obligors may withhold payment. This type of self-help makes the obligor look bad to the court and gives a custodial parent further ammunition to make the obligor’s life miserable. A better option for an obligor in this situation is to contact a skilled family law attorney who can explain your options and possibly even request a modification of your support payments in court.
Financial hardship —If an obligor experiences a major financial burden, such as the loss of a job or a major medical treatment, they may fall behind on their child support payments. In cases like these, an attorney can assist you in requesting that the court reevaluate your obligation.

How Illinois Calculates Child Support

Illinois uses an Income Shares Model to calculate child support, effective January 2019. This model considers both parents’ net incomes to arrive at a combined child support obligation, which is then divided proportionally between the parents based on their respective income shares.

Key steps in the Illinois child support calculation:

Determine each parent’s monthly net income (gross income minus allowable deductions)
Add both parents’ net incomes to get the combined net income
Look up the basic support obligation in the Illinois schedule based on combined income and number of children
Adjust for parenting time — if the non-custodial parent has significant overnights (146+), a shared parenting calculation applies that can reduce the support obligation
Add additional expenses — health insurance premiums, work-related childcare, and extraordinary medical expenses are added on top of basic support

The result is called the Minimum Child Support Amount. Both parents can agree to pay more, but court-ordered support cannot go below the guideline amount without good cause.

Modifying Child Support in Illinois

Child support orders can be modified when there has been a substantial change in circumstances. Illinois also allows review of child support orders that are at least 3 years old if the current amount differs from the guideline amount by 20% or more — even without proving a change in circumstances.

Common reasons to modify child support:

A significant change in either parent’s income (job loss, promotion, disability)
A significant change in the child’s needs (medical condition, educational requirements)
A change in the amount of parenting time
The child emancipating (turning 18 or graduating high school, whichever is later)
One parent becoming incarcerated

Arami Law helps both parents seeking upward modifications and parents facing requests for increases they cannot afford. We build the financial case required to obtain a modification and represent you in Cook County court.

Enforcing Child Support Orders in Illinois

When a parent fails to pay court-ordered child support, Illinois law provides powerful enforcement mechanisms:

Income withholding: Wages can be garnished automatically through the payor’s employer
License suspension: Driver’s, professional, and recreational licenses can be suspended for non-payment
Tax refund intercept: State and federal tax refunds can be seized and applied to arrears
Contempt of court: A non-paying parent can be held in contempt and ordered to pay attorney fees, or even jailed
Property liens: Liens can be placed on real estate owned by the non-paying parent
Credit reporting: Child support arrears can be reported to credit bureaus

If you are owed back child support, Arami Law can help you use these tools to collect what your children are entitled to. If you are facing enforcement action, we can help you address arrears and negotiate a realistic payment plan with the court.