Downers Grove Child Support Attorney

In nearly every divorce between parents, child support, parental responsibilities, and parenting time are three important issues to determine in the couple’s divorce settlement. Child support is the money paid from one parent to the other to provide financial support for their child. In 2017, the formula Illinois courts use to determine child support changed.

What Does Child Support Cover?

Child support can be used to cover any expenses related to raising a child. These include:

• Personal items;
• Food;
• Housing and utility costs;
• Extracurricular activities for the child;
• The child’s healthcare;
• School supplies; and
• The cost of a larger vehicle to transport the children.

How is Child Support Calculated?

Under the old law, the noncustodial parent paid a percentage of his or her net income to the other parent as child support. The percentage he or she paid depended on the number of children the couple had to support.

Under the new law, the principle of income shares is used to create child support orders. In short, income shares works like this:

• The court takes the parents’ combined net income and determines the percentage that each contributes to the total;
• It applies this figure to the amount of money the average family in their income bracket spends on its children, depending on the number of children in the family; then
• The parent who is determined to be the paying parent pays his or her percentage of this second figure as child support.

The percentage of parenting time each parent has is worked into this formula. Talk to your lawyer about how the amount of parenting time you have affects the amount of child support you pay or receive.

Modifying a Child Support Order

When one or both parents experience significantly changed financial circumstances, they can alter their child support order. In most cases, a child support order cannot be modified unless it has been in place for at least three years.

When parents agree to a change to their child support order, they can submit the modification to the court that created their original order to have it amended. If one parent wants to modify the order but the other does not agree, the parent seeking the modification must file a petition to modify the child support order. In this petition, the parent must demonstrate his or her changed circumstances, which can be a job loss, relocation, or increased expenses, a need to provide healthcare coverage for the child, or a 20 percent or greater difference between the current child support order and a new order if updated guidelines are applied.

Child support is a big issue in most divorces between couples with minor children. To learn more about child support and other family law issues, schedule your free consultation with an experienced child support attorney at Women’s Divorce & Family Law Group today.