How Are Child Support Payment Amounts Determined in Illinois?

 Posted on February 11, 2021 in Child support

Child support allows parents to share the costs of raising a child even if they are unmarried or divorced. If you are thinking of getting divorced or you are an unmarried parent, you may have questions about your child support rights and responsibilities. You may be curious as to the amount of child support you or your child’s other parent will pay. In Illinois, child support is usually determined by statutory formulas, but there are also cases in which courts deviate from these formulas.

Child Support Calculation in Illinois  

Prior to 2016, child support in Illinois was almost exclusively based on the paying parent’s income. The higher the income of the paying parent or “obligor,” the higher the child support payment. Illinois now uses the Income Shares Model to determine child support payment amounts. This calculation method uses both parents’ income to reach an appropriate child support payment.

First, both parents’ net incomes are summed to find the combined net income. The combined net income is used to find the “basic support obligation” or the amount of financial support expected of both parents. The basic support obligation is then proportionally split between the parents based on their respective net incomes. The parent with the greater share of parenting time is the recipient of child support and the parent with less parenting time is the payor of child support.

If each parent has the child for 146 overnights every year, this is called a “shared parenting” arrangement. In shared parenting situations, the amount of parenting time each parent has is factored into the child support calculation. The greater a parent’s parenting time, the less his or her child support obligation.

Deviating from the Statutory Formulas

Illinois courts do not always follow the Income Shares model when determining child support. Because the statutory formulas and basic support obligation tables are based on statistical averages, this method of child support calculation may be inappropriate for situations that fall outside of these statistical averages. Illinois courts are authorized to deviate from the statutory guidelines when doing so is in the child’s best interests.

Contact a Kane County Child Support Lawyer

A skilled Batavia, IL family law attorney from Van Larson Law, P.C. can help you petition the court for child support or modify your current child support. If your child’s other parent has been ordered to pay child support but has not been making payments, we can help you enforce the order. Call our office today at 630-879-9090 and schedule a free consultation to learn more.

 

Source:

https://www.illinois.gov/hfs/childsupport/Pages/default.aspx