Joliet, Illinois Child Support Attorney

Divorce and Paternity Attorneys in Will County

The Davi Law Group serves clients throughout Will County who have legal concerns about child support. When you are facing divorce, legal separation, the dissolution of a civil union, or a parentage situation and you have a child or children, there are different considerations for custodial and non-custodial parents. Depending on your role, you may be responsible for providing child support or eligible to receive benefits to help care for your biological or adopted child.

Our attorneys have the skill and experience to provide comprehensive legal help for all family law matters pertaining to children, including child support, child custody/parental responsibility, parentingt time/visitation, child removal, and paternity/parentage. We will work to secure an equitable solution that is in the best interest of the child and seek the least disruptive outcome for your family.

Child Support Guidelines in Illinois

The legal handling of support obligations is governed by the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Courts may use their discretion to demand a duty of support from one or both parents. This duty of support may include more than just a regular payment of money from one parent to the other as a contribution towards the housing, food, clothing, and transportation of a child. Support may also include a contribution towards uncovered health issues, child care expenses, educational pursuits and extracurricular activities. Several factors help determine the amount of child support payments. According to the Act, these factors include, but are not limited to:

• The financial needs and resources of the child
• The financial needs and resources and needs of the custodial parent
• The standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the parents' marriage not ended
• The child's physical, mental, and emotional needs
• The child's educational needs
• The financial needs and resources of the non-custodial parent.

2017 Changes to Illinois Child Support Calculations

In 2017, a new child support law has changed how child support is calculated in Illinois. This law’s changes took effect in July 2017. With this change, the calculation of child support payments from a non-custodial parent to a custodial parent will no longer be based solely on the non-custodial parent’s income. Instead, the new law uses an income sharing model that takes both parents’ incomes and their respective amount of parenting time and responsibilities into consideration.

With this new law, a parent’s net income is still a factor. Net income is determined by adding up all sources of income and deducting eligible tax obligations and expenses. When maintenance is awarded as part of a divorce case, net income is determined after subtracting the maintenance amount from the gross income, in addition to other eligible deductions.

In some cases, net income cannot be determined and child support obligations are court-ordered with consideration to the factors present in the case or established through an administrative process through the Illinois Healthcare and Family Services. Maintenance awards also impact net income determinations for child support calculations. The amount of the maintenance award is subtracted from the gross income of the obligor, resulting in a lower net income and a reduced child support payment for the obligor.

At the Davi Law Group, we help clients establish, enforce, modify, and terminate child support orders. Contact us today at 815-582-4901 to set up an initial analysis of your child support situation, which has a value of up to $325.00. We will give you an honest assessment of your family law matter and explain our approach at no cost to you. Should you retain us as your counsel, financing options are available.