If you are in the process of getting divorced in Oakbrook Terrace, you already may know about changes to Illinois family laws regarding child support. In brief, under Illinois law (750 ILCS 5/), child support has been determined based on a percentage-based model (or formula) that looks at the number of children for whom support is awarded, and the payor and payee parents are determined by who has primary physical custody of the child. For each child, a certain percentage of the payor parent’s income is the amount of child support awarded. However, as you may know, there have been a number of changes to family and divorce law in Illinois over the last year or so, and one of those changes concerns child custody. Parents are no longer awarded legal and/or physical custody, but instead, those terms have been replaced with “parental responsibilities” and “parenting time.”

Why is this important for child support? Another major change to the law concerns how child support is determined, and the new law will take effect in July 2017. When July 2017 rolls around, how will “parenting time” have an impact on the amount of child support paid?

Understanding the “Income Shares” Model of Child Support

If you are in the process of filing for divorce in Illinois or are dealing with issues of child custody and child support, it is important to pay attention to changes in the law that will take effect on July 1, 2017. The changes to the law will impact the ways in which child support payments are calculated, and as such are likely to alter the ways in which residential parents must be responsible for playing a role in the financial support of the child in connection with the non-custodial parent. At Farooqi & Husain Law Office, we have years of experience assisting members of the Muslim community with complex legal issues concerning divorce and child support. We are here to help with your case today.

Learning More about the Changes to Illinois Child Support Law

Current Illinois child support rules under 750 ILCS 5/505 and 750 ILCS 5/510 follow a form that has become familiar in many states across the country: what is known as a “percentage of income” formula that determines that a child support payment will be based on the net income of the non-residential, or non-custodial, parent. Based on the net income of that parent, the amount of child support is standardized according to the number of children for whom support is owed. Currently, this is how child support determinations work: