Child Support

At present, our Illinois courts determine child support payments by using a percentage formula:

The Court shall determine the minimum amount of support by using the following guidelines:

Number of Children	Percent of Supporting Party's Net Income
1	20%
2	25%
3	32%
4	40%
5	45%
6 or more	50%

While our above statute states that the above percentages will be the minimum amount of support to be paid, the minimum has become the norm. The above percentages presume that the children reside with the obligee spouse and there are exceptions to the percentages.  For example, the Court can go below the minimum if the child doesn't need that much money.  Michael Jordan's child would not need 20% of $100,000,000 each year. Also, the percentages rarely apply if there is a split-custody arrangement where some of the children live with each of the parents.

While there are always exceptions, it is generally true that "net" income is defined as a total income from all sources minus the following deductions:

a. Federal income tax properly calculated;

b. State income tax properly calculated;

c. Social Security payments;

d. Mandatory retirement contributions required by law or as a condition of employment;

e. Union dues;

f. Dependent and individual health/hospitalization insurance premiums;

g. Prior obligations of support or maintenance actually paid pursuant to a court order;

h. Expenditures for repayment of debts that represent reasonable and necessary expenses for the production of income, medical expenditures necessary to preserve life or health, reasonable expenditures for the benefit of the child and the other parent, exclusive of gifts.

The legal community is expecting a major overhaul of the Illinois Child Support Law.  The date and content of this new legislation is not yet known.

Our child support statute does not provide for contribution toward day care expenses. We have case law in Illinois which requires, in some instances, the non-custodial parent to contribute toward the childrens' day care expenses. In my opinion, I believe that any such day care contributions should be deducted from gross income in order to reach net income (as per the above statute percentages).

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