Our Bolingbrook child support lawyers understand that parents have an ethical and legal obligation to provide emotional and financial support to their children under Illinois law. That applies to all parents whether they are married, divorced, or even when the parents were never married. Child support matters are an important consideration in legal separation, divorce, and paternity proceedings. The other considerations in these proceedings when children are involved are the determination of parental responsibilities (formerly child custody) and parenting time (formerly visitation).
Child support refers to regular payments that one parent has to pay to the other parent as a contribution to the financial support of the upbringing of their child(ren). Oftentimes determining the amount of child support to be paid can become a major source of contention in divorce and paternity proceedings. At Keller Legal Services, we have more than 30 years of experience in handling cases involving child support, child support modification, and child support termination.
Our Bolingbrook child support attorneys fight for your rights and protect your interests, whether you are the spouse receiving the child support or the one paying it. We take time out to evaluate your individual circumstances and assist you in obtaining a fair and equitable allocation of child support. While we focus on settling matters through collaboration, we vigorously represent your case and strive to achieve a favorable outcome.
As with other aspects of Illinois family law, the guidelines for child support payments are currently laid out in the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. The court may issue an order requiring one parent to pay child support to the other parent to help cover the costs for the child(ren)’s mental, physical, educational, and healthcare needs. The judge generally uses a statutory formula to calculate the amount to be paid in child support based on the number of children and the percentage of the net income of the parent that does not have residential custody. These guidelines currently can be found in Chapter 750 ILCS 5/505.
Important aspects of child support include:
It is important to understand that the foregoing child support considerations are only guidelines and the Court has the ability to deviate from the guidelines based upon its discretion in the case before it. The Courts past have even awarded a non-custodial parent with child support where the custodial parent’s income was substantially greater than the non-custodial parent’s income. There is also statutory authority that applies a different formula when the parents have generally equal parenting time with the child(ren). Setting the correct child support can be very complicated depending upon the facts in your particular case. You should contact one of our Bolingbrook child support attorneys at Keller Legal Services if you have any questions regarding the proper award of child support in Will County or DuPage County.
After the amount of child support has been decided or an award has been put into effect, you may feel the need to modify the terms and conditions of the decree. Personal and financial circumstances change over time and may require additional child support. Modifying the existing child support arrangement requires filing a petition and representing your case in a court hearing. At Keller Legal Services, our Bolingbrook child support attorneys can help you with modification and enforcement matters, and strive to achieve your desired outcome.
Any parent currently paying or receiving child support should be aware that the law with regard to child support is changing very soon in the State of Illinois. The traditional guidelines, as discussed above, are set to end by July 1, 2017, when the new guidelines are published. Please check our blog as we will certainly be discussing the new child support rules.
If you are going through a divorce and want to settle a child support issue or modify the child support arrangements, our Bolingbrook child support attorneys can help you with your case. Contact us today at 630-505-1515 or online to schedule a free initial consultation.