Calculating Child Support Under the Amended Statute
The purpose of this blog is to inform the reader as to the procedure and law applicable
when calculating child support under the amended statute, effective July 1, 2017.
The Application 750 ILCS 5/505 (a)(2), Duty of Support
As a family law practitioner, I am frequently asked by clients whether or not
the child support statute will apply to them or if it is possible to come to an
arrangement that is not based on the child support statute. In most, cases the
child support guidelines of Section 505(a) will be applied. However, the
Illinois Legislator did allow for “deviations” from the guideline child support
amount. The manner in which the court determines whether guidelines should
be applied as considered in the following paragraphs.
The Illinois Legislature has approved child support guidelines that the Illinois
Courts are to apply in each case, unless the court determines that the child
support guidelines would not be appropriate in that case. Thus, the court is
allowed to deviate from the guidelines as set forth by the Illinois Legislature
based on good reasons for doing so. The Court must consider certain relevant
factors when determining whether to deviate from the guidelines as set forth
by the Illinois Legislature. The factors that a court can consider when
deviating from a guideline child support order are as follows:
a. The financial resources and needs of the child:
b. The financial resources and needs of the parents;
c. The standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the marriage
or civil union not been dissolved; and
d. The physical and emotional conditions of the child and his or her
educational needs.
About the author:
James M. Kelly is engaged in representing clients in contested and uncontested
dissolution of marriage proceedings and bankruptcy proceedings, both Chapter 7 and
Chapter 13. James Kelly, has been practicing in the northwest suburbs of Cook County
and to a very relevant extent McHenry County, Lake County and DuPage County. James
Kelly has been admitted to the practice of law in the State of Illinois since 1994.