Recovering Unpaid Child Support in Illinois

 Posted on July 21, 2015 in Child Support

The State of Illinois faces a serious problem in collecting child support from delinquent parents. There is currently over $3 billion in overdue child support payments, and with just 58% of child support payments collected by the State, that number is likely to continue growing.

Parents have an obligation to their children to support them financially, even if the child’s parents are divorced. The State of Illinois calculates the amount of a parent’s income that should be paid to their child through child support based on a set of legislative guidelines that considers the number of children for which the parent is responsible.

State Guidelines for Support Determination

These guidelines stipulate that 20 percent of a parent’s net income should be paid to their child in support if they are only responsible for one child. If the parent has two children, then the State requires them to pay 28 percent of their net income in support of their children. The amount increases for each child, up to an expected payment of 50 percent of the parent's net income for six or more children. The court may alter the exact amounts depending on the specific circumstances of each case. Factors including, but not limited to, custody arrangement between the parents may be taken into account to determine the amount of child support a parent will be required to pay. “Most Wanted” Delinquent Parents In the event that a parent becomes delinquent on support payments, the State may take a number of actions against the parent, including publicly disclosing their name and image if they owe more than $5,000 in payments. The State has even created a list of the “most wanted” parents behind on child support. Variety of Collection Means Utilized