In Illinois, family court has minimum statutory guidelines to establish the amount of child support to be paid by the non-custodial parent. These guidelines are based upon the non-custodial parent's net average income from all sources (including overtime) as follows:
Number of Children Percent of Non-Custodial Parent's Net Income
1 20 percent
2 28 percent
3 32 percent
4 40 percent
5 45 percent
6 50 percent or more
That sounds relatively simple, doesn't it? Well, quite often it is not an easy equation. A case can be made for deviations from the child support guidelines. An experienced family law attorney can help.
The following cases illustrate some of the complexities that come with calculating child support. They will require an experienced attorney to help you successfully navigate toward a fair result:
- Documenting net income for a self-employed individual can be a very complicated process, including — but not limited to — documenting cash income.
- If circumstances justify a deviation below the statutory "minimum" guidelines recited above, the court is authorized to do so provided special findings are made by the court.
- Day care, medical and extraordinary educational expenses typically justify a deviation above the minimum statutory guidelines. Quite often (not always) the parents will equally divide day care and extraordinary educational and out-of-pocket medical expense for the child(ren).
- The availability of overtime earnings or bonuses in the future can be quite a fertile battleground.
- In split or joint physical custody situations, the above guidelines simply do not apply.
To find out more about how Michael T. Mahoney, Ltd., may able to help you or to schedule an initial consultation to discuss your case, please call 866-677-8081 or contact us online. We have offices in Chillicothe and Peoria.
