Divorcing when you and your spouse have children can be much more difficult than if you did not have children. In addition to worrying about your own feelings about the divorce and your well-being, you also have to worry about how the divorce will affect your children. In addition, there are a few more issues you will have to tackle before you can finalize your divorce, such as your children’s living arrangements, your parenting time schedules, and child support. In Illinois, courts can order one or both parents to provide financial support for a child until the child reaches the age of 18 or they graduate high school, whichever comes later. There is quite a bit that goes into the calculation of child support, so it is important to understand how these obligations are determined.
Determining the Basic Child Support Obligation
The state of Illinois calculates child support using an “income shares” model. This means that the amount of support each parent owes the child is based on his or her income and the percentage of the total household income he or she provides. First, a Gross to Net Income Conversion Table provided by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family services is used to determine each spouse’s net income. Next, those values will be added together to find the combined net monthly household income.
An Income Shares Schedule will then be used to determine the basic support obligation amount based on the parents’ combined net income and the number of children. The amount of this obligation will be split between the two parents, depending on each parent’s contribution to the monthly household income. Typically, the non-custodial parent will pay their portion of the obligation to the custodial parent, and it will be presumed that the custodial parent will be directly using their portion of the obligation to provide for their children’s needs.
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