Wendy R. Morgan

Child support is a person's legal obligation to provide financial support to his/her minor child or children. Since the statutes were amended in July 2017, child support is now based on both parties’ respective net incomes and imputed net income to a spouse and is also based on the number of overnights a parent has with the child (ren). There are statutory charts utilized and the determination of net income can vary depending on what additional statutory factors are applied and the manner of determining net income based on Illinois Department of Revenue standards. This is a substantial change and departure from the prior statute which required only a percentage of net income, which percentage varied on the number of children born to the marriage but is now more in accordance with many other state’s calculations.

These newer calculations and charts still do not necessarily apply to higher income individuals earning in excess of $250,000.00 per year. Our experienced attorneys will assist you to determine the appropriate child support payments based on each parent's economic situation.

In addition to child support and since July 2012, the Illinois Courts have had authority to order parents to financially contribute to their child(ren)'s day care and after school care, out of pocket medical, dental, orthodontic, ophthalmological, optometric, therapy, counseling, psychiatric, prescriptions, and related expenses of the minor child(ren), extracurricular activities, music lessons, summer camp, sports and related activities such as Tae-Kwon-Do, tennis lessons, golf lessons, team activities; and organizational activities (i.e., boy scouts, girl scouts), educational expenses such as tuition, books, supplies, bus transportation costs and related costs, tutoring and the like.

To amend a Court order for child, support a parent has to show pursuant to Section 510 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act that a substantial change occurred in their financial circumstances, or that there be a substantial change in the financial circumstances of the other parent, or of the child. Amending a child support order entered prior to July 2017 requires that the above substantial change in financial circumstances occurs so it is not sufficient to simply allege that the Child support order should be amended due to the change in the statute.

Amending a contribution to the and these related above expenses can always be modified as long as there is a substantial change in circumstances. Whether you are seeking to establish child support, obtain contributions to any of the above additional expenses of a child(ren), or amend a child support order, our attorneys have your family's best interests at heart and strive to provide the highest-quality representation of your interests.