How Do I Get Child Support Modification in Illinois?

How Do I Get Child Support Modification in Illinois?

By: Gordon & Perlut, LLC

If you are currently paying or receiving child support following a divorce or a separation from your child’s other parent, there are various reasons that you might want to seek a child support modification in Illinois. In some cases, a parent will want to seek a modification because she or he cannot pay the full amount of child support that the court determined in the child support obligation due to a loss of a job or a change in job status.

In other cases, a parent might learn that the other parent recently received a major promotion that means he/she now should be paying significantly more toward the total child support obligation each month. Regardless of the motivation for wanting a child support modification, how do you go about getting one? The following are ways to get a child support modification in Illinois.

Show That a Substantial Change in Circumstances Has Occurred

If you want to modify child support in Cook County, you will need to ask the court to make the modification. The first way to get a child support modification according to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) is to show the court a substantial change in circumstances has occurred. The IMDMA does not provide specific examples of what constitutes a substantial change in circumstances, but the changed circumstances cannot be inconsequential or temporary if you want the court to change the child support order. Examples of a substantial change in circumstances may include:

• Parent lost his or her job;
• Parent involuntarily was demoted or had to take a significant pay cut;
• Parent got a promotion that comes with a significant pay raise;
• Parent suffered an illness or injury that has left the parent disabled and relying on SSD benefits; or
• Parent sustained an injury or illness at work that has left the parent relying on workers’ compensation benefits that replace only a percentage of his or her former wages prior to the accident or illness.

Show an Inconsistency Between Child Support Amount and Guidelines

If you can show an inconsistency of at least 20 percent, but no less than $10 per month, between the total child support amount and the guidelines amount, the court can modify the child support order. However, if the court originally made clear that it was deviating from the guidelines and no substantial change in circumstances has occurred since the court clarified that it was deviating from the guidelines, then this type of inconsistency may not result in a modification.

Show Child Has Health Care Needs

If you can show that there is a need to provide for the health care needs of the child, and those needs were not originally considered in the child support order, you can ask the court to modify child support.

Contact a Chicago Child Support Lawyer

Do you need assistance modifying a child support order in or around Chicago? One of our experienced Chicago child support attorneys can help you with a modification. Contact Gordon & Perlut, LLC for more information about your eligibility to seek a child support modification and to get started on your case.