Illinois' New Child Support Law and Modifying Your Existing Payments

 Posted on April 06, 2017 in Child Support

Child support payments are generally recognized by divorcing spouses as a necessary part of their shared parental responsibilities. Parties in a divorce are more likely to argue about the value of child support payments one spouse receives. Courts will consider the needs of the children and the financial status of each parent to determine an appropriate amount. However, needs and finances can change, and it sometimes is appropriate for parents to modify the child support arrangement.

Determining Payments

Starting July 1, Illinois will use a new measure called income shares to determine what percentage of the children’s basic support amount each parent is responsible for. Each parent’s net income is calculated, which is the gross income subtracted by necessary living expenses and taxes. The two net incomes are combined, and the parent with the greater share of the income will proportionately pay his or her share of expenses associated with the children. Courts will also take into account whether there is a shared parenting arrangement, in which children spend at least 146 nights a year with each parent. In this situation, each parent’s child support obligation is multiplied by the percentage of time he or she is responsible for the child. If the parent with lower income has a larger share of the parental responsibility, the parent with the higher income will pay the difference between the two amounts.

When Payments Can Change

The previous Illinois child support law based payments on what the non-custodial parent’s income is and took a percentage of it, depending on the number of children. Once the new law takes effect, some parents may want to modify their current child support arrangements to take advantage of the more equitable law. However, a parent must prove there has been a substantial change of circumstances in order to modify child support payments, and the new law does not qualify as a substantial change. Changes that do qualify include:

• An increase or decrease in either parent’s income
• If a child no longer lives with the parent receiving support payments
• If a child reaches age 18 and is no longer in high school
• If the needs of a child change, such as a disability
• If it is proven a payer is not the legal father of a child

New Child Support Agreement

Child support payments can only be changed through a legal process, such as court or mediation. Any personal agreement you make with your spouse will not stand up in court. Make sure you have an experienced Kane County child support lawyer to help you create a legally binding agreement. Schedule a free consultation today by calling Goostree Law Group at 630-584-4800.

Source:

https://www.illinoislegalaid.org/legal-information/changing-child-support-payments

https://www.isba.org/sites/default/files/sections/younglawyersdivision/newsletter/Young%20Lawyers%20Division%20August%202016.pdf