Calculating Child Support When Parent Already Supports a Child from Prior Relationship
CALCULATING CHILD SUPPORT UNDER THE AMENDED STATUE
750 ILCS 5/505(a)(3)(F)
The Law Offices of James M. Kelly, P.C., a Palatine divorce attorney, is dedicated
to helping clients through the most difficult time they may face in their lifetime.
Accordingly, James Kelly, a Palatine family law attorney, seeks to answer many of
the questions potential clients may have. This blog post is dedicated to understanding
the complex nature of the current Illinois Child Support Statute as it relates to
calculating child support when the parent already supports children from prior
relationships or marriages.
Section 750 ILCS 5/505 (a)(3)(F) allows for additional deductions from income for the
purposes of calculating child support. The first such deduction under Section 505 (a)(3)
(F) (I) allows for a multifamily adjustment in the child support amount based on whether
the payor is already paying child support for a child not from the current marriage. The
Law Offices of James M. Kelly, a dedicated family law attorney in Palatine, Illinois will
inform you that if you have a prior court order that was properly entered in a different
court proceeding which mandates the payment of support for a child not of the current
marriage, then that court ordered support payment can be deducted from your gross
income for the purposes of determining child support. Thus, the amount of support
actually paid by Court order for a different child shall be deducted from the parent’s gross
income. There is one caveat, the court upon looking at needs of the child in the current
marriage can disallow the deduction if the court determines that the deduction would
cause economic hardship.
The Law Offices of James M. Kelly, who has practiced divorce law and matrimonial law
for over 25 years, will also inform you that you may still deduct amounts actually paid
from the payor parent’s gross income. The parent seeking such a deduction where he has
a child outside of the marriage but does not have a court order securing the child support
payment can deduct the payment by making that request with the court. James Kelly, a
Palatine divorce attorney, will further instruct you that a motion will need to be filed
with the court in order to accomplish the goal of deducting the amount of support actually
paid so that the divorce court can properly consider the deduction when determining child
support. Once again the deduction is subject to the divorce judge’s scrutiny for
determination as to whether the deduction would cause economic hardship for the child
of the current marriage. Clients in Cook County who have children from prior
relationships or marriages will want to make sure that these prior orders of support will
be taken into account to make sure you are not overpaying your child support obligation.
About the author:
James M. Kelly, Palatine Family Law Attorney, is engaged in representing clients in
contested and uncontested dissolution of marriage proceedings and bankruptcy
proceedings, both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. James Kelly, a Palatine divorce attorney,
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.
