Posted on December 00, 0000 in Child Support

If you are currently working through a divorce or plan to file for divorce in the near future, do not rush into a new relationship. Being in a new relationship while your divorce is still being finalized can have a negative impact on your settlement and resulting arrangements, such as your child support and custody agreements. It is important that you understand how dating somebody new can affect your divorce and, if you do opt to begin seeing somebody before the process is complete, that you take it slowly and do not do anything to jeopardize your divorce agreement.

Child Custody

If a new partner moves into your home or you frequently have sexual or romantic partners coming in and out of your house, this can negatively affect your child custody agreement. The court may find that exposure to your new partner is not in your child's best interest, especially if your new partner's relationship with your child is poor, your partner uses drugs, or has a criminal record.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Child Support

The battle for child support does not always end in the courtroom. In some cases, after child support is determined by the court, the non-custodial parent refuses to pay the expected amount. This defiance of a court agreement can cause the custodial parent financial strain and emotional trauma as he or she attempts to recover the required support payments.

Wage Garnishment an Important Tool

Though the Illinois Public Aid Code authorizes the state to post the photographs and names of those parents who owe more than $5,000 in support payments, and though a list of the most egregious offenders is kept up by the Illinois Child Support Services, much of the monies for support payments are still not collected. Therefore, a solution must be found, such as direct wage garnishment. While this tool is especially effective, family law attorneys need to be aware of the new stipulations enacted by the Illinois Supreme Court regarding procedures for notices of garnishment.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Child Support

When you are subject to a court order regarding child support, it is obviously very important to meet your required obligations. Your child deserves, at the very least, financial support from both parents, and your payments are intended to help provide him or her with basic necessities including a home, food, and clothing. As time goes on, however, the life situations change. Some changes may be dramatic, such as the loss of a job or serious illness, while others are more gradual, including a rising cost of living and the child’s evolving needs. For this reason, the law in Illinois permits the modification of child support orders to adapt to changing situations.

Significant Change in Circumstances

The most obvious basis for a child support order modification is a drastic change in the life of either parent or the child. A sudden loss of income can make it extremely difficult for you to continue making your required payments. Similarly, if your child is diagnosed with a serious medical condition, his or her financial needs may change significantly in a very short period of time. In such cases, either parent may petition the court for an order modification, while showing the significant change in circumstances and the need for reconsideration.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Child Support

In the state of Illinois, along with the rest of the country, it is understood, both statutorily and in the minds of most people, that a child deserves the support of both parents, regardless of their marital status. Most would even agree that a child deserves much more than that, but since it is impossible to legislate love and affection, the most the law can do, in many cases, is to require a parent to contribute financially to the child’s well-being. For most supporting parents, this means making monetary payments until the child reaches age 18 and graduates from high school. The obligation for certain others may extend into college, to provide help with educational expenses. If you have a child with a disability, however, you may be required to continuing providing support for many years to come.

Disability and Eligibility

Beginning in 2016, the law in Illinois regarding non-minor support will contain more specific guidelines than ever before. This is true for both support related to educational expenses and support for an adult child with a disability. A post on this blog a few weeks ago looked more in-depth into educational support, but did not really discuss adult children with disabilities.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Child Support

Most responsible parents understand the importance of continuing to provide financial support for their child or children after the marriage or relationship between the adults breaks down. Of course, court-issued orders for child support are based on more than the parents’ interpretation of what may or may not be sufficient for their child’s needs. That is why law provides a fairly straightforward to be applied in the calculation of child support awards for most situations.

Basic Calculations

According to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, in every proceeding for child support, the court must first utilize a statutory formula to establish the minimum recommended amount to be paid. The formula is based on the net income of the supporting parent and the number of children to be support, with the amount of support to equal:

• 20 percent of the supporting parent’s net income for one child;

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Child Support

When you are responsible for making child support payments, virtually every financial decision you make can affect your ability to meet your obligations. This is especially true if you are considering a job or a career change, as your income is very likely to change. While an increase in your income can be a good thing, a decrease could make it impossible for you to comply with your child support requirements. You may be able to petition the court for an order modification, but depending upon the circumstances of your employment, your request could be denied.

Illinois Law

According to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, your order for child support may be amended upon a showing of a substantial change in circumstances. Losing a job, starting a new one, a significant promotion or demotion, and a complete career change could all create a significant difference in your monthly and annual income. The law recognizes a change in employment status as one of the possible causes of a substantial change in circumstances for the purposes of pursuing an order modification.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Child Support

If you are a parent who has been ordered to pay child support, you probably realize the importance of your obligation. Regardless of how you may feel about your child’s other parent, you know that your child is depending on your help in providing for his or her most basic needs. But what happens when situations in your own life get in the way of meeting your responsibilities? Technically, you are still required to make your ordered payments, but there are some things you can to help improve your situation.

Basic Child Support Requirements

Under Illinois law, an order for child support is typically based on two factors: the supporting parent’s net income and the number of children requiring support. Net income is defined as any and all income for all sources minus certain allowable deductions for taxes, union dues, insurance premiums and other specific expenses. Your obligation for child support will generally be set as a percentage of your income, beginning with 20 percent for one child, up to 50 percent for six or more children. On a case-by-case basis, a court may order you to pay a higher or lower amount upon consideration your family’s specific circumstances and needs.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Child Support

When you have a child, you know that you have certain responsibilities regarding his or her upbringing. When you have a child with someone to whom you are no longer married, it often becomes much more difficult to live up to those responsibilities. Orders of child support have become commonplace in Illinois and throughout the country, with most parents realizing their children deserve, at the very least, financial support from both parents, regardless of the marital situation. But do you know how courts in Illinois determine child support obligations? In most cases, the calculations are pretty straightforward.

Basic Child Support Guidelines

While either parent—and in rare cases, both parents at the same time—can be required to pay child support, the supporting parent is usually the one with less parental responsibilities or parenting time. Calculating a child support order begins with a baseline determination that is based on the supporting parent’s net income and the number of children being supported. A supporting parent is expected to pay:

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Child Support

As a new class of graduating high school seniors prepares for the road ahead, many will be headed to college for the first time this fall. While post-high school education certainly offers a great deal of opportunity for a young mind, the ever-increasing price tag associated with it is a source of serious concern. A large number of parents have both the desire and financial ability to help their child pay for college. But what about those cannot or will not contribute to their child’s college expenses? Can a court force such parents to help? It may come as a surprise to learn the answer depends on whether the parents are married or divorced, along with several other factors.

Rising Costs of College

According to recent surveys, a student at an in-state public university can expect to spend, on average, about $24,000 per academic year, while a student a private college could reasonably expend about double that amount. These numbers include not only tuition and fees but also the cost of living, food, and other related college expenses. This means that for a student to graduate with a four-year degree, he or she will incur up to $200,000 or more in educational costs. While loans and programs are available to many students, beginning a professional life up to a quarter of million dollars in debt does not sound like anyone’s ideal situation.

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 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Child Support

Earlier this year, a Cook County judge ordered a Herscher car dealership to pay $2.3 million in fines for failing to withhold child support payments from the paychecks of a former employee. The decision was the largest child-support related ruling in the history of Illinois, but it seems that the dealership will only be held responsible for part of the original fine.

The Daily Journal in Kankakee reports that dealership and the woman who filed the original complaint have reached an agreement to close the matter for good. The details of the settlement, including the final amount to be paid, have not been released, but both sides say they are satisfied with the outcome.

Unprecedented Fine

Back in April, Cook County Judge Bonita Coleman ruled that Country Chevrolet in Herscher failed to comply with state laws requiring the withholding of wages for child support. The dealership argued that the worker in question—the company’s finance manager—was an independent contractor and not an employee, so the law did not apply. Judge Coleman disagreed and ordered the dealership to pay almost $8,000 in back child support for the nine months the man was employed. The judge also levied a fine of $100 per day for the more than two years it took for the dealership to make appropriate payments to the Illinois State Disbursement Unit. The total fine was approximately $2.3 million, the biggest such fine on record in the state.

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