In Illinois, many divorced and single parents rely on child support to provide for their children’s needs. Unfortunately, however, many paying parents fail to fulfill their support obligations, leaving the other parent and the child in a difficult situation. If your child’s other parent is not paying court-ordered child support, it is important to take action to resolve the situation, and an experienced family law attorney can help.

Talk to the Other Parent

In some cases, it is worthwhile to try talking to your child’s other parent before taking legal action against them. If you tend to have a good relationship with the other parent and their failure to pay support seems unusual, you might simply ask them to explain what is going on. Perhaps they are going through a time of financial hardship and they intend to make up the missed payments as soon as possible. In this case, the situation may resolve itself in due time, or you may be able to agree on modifications to the child support order that allow the other parent to make payments within their current means.

Get Help From the Division of Child Support Services

The Illinois Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) provides many different services for parents who receive child support, including collecting and disbursing payments. If you are unable to resolve the other parent’s missed payments on your own, you can request help from DCSS to collect these payments. DCSS can enforce a number of consequences for delinquent parents, including garnishing wages, intercepting tax returns and casino or lottery winnings, suspending driver’s licenses, denying passport applications, and including the parent on a public list of delinquent parents.

When parents get divorced in Illinois, one of the most important considerations is how to address child custody through the allocation of parental responsibilities and parenting time. These decisions should be made in the children’s best interests, and this typically means that it is important to maintain stability in the children’s living arrangements as much as possible. However, it is not uncommon for a parent to move to a new location in the years following a divorce. If you or your children’s other parent intends to relocate, it is important to understand what this could mean for your parenting plan.

Parental Relocation Requires Approval

In Illinois, if a parent who has equal or majority parenting time wants to move with their child, they will need to determine whether that move requires approval from the other parent or the court system. The need for approval is based on the location of the child’s current primary residence and the distance of the relocation. If the child currently resides in Cook County, Kane County, DuPage County, Will County, Lake County, or McHenry County, approval is required for a move of more than 25 miles within Illinois. If the child resides in any other Illinois county, approval is required for a move of more than 50 miles within Illinois. Additionally, any out-of-state relocation of at least 25 miles from the child’s current Illinois residence requires approval.

Generally, a relocating parent must notify the other parent of the intended move at least 60 days in advance. If the other parent consents, the move will likely be approved. However, if the other parent contests the relocation, the court will need to consider the child’s best interests to determine whether the move should be approved.

During a divorce or child custody case, parents may disagree about multiple different types of issues, including how they will share in making important decisions for their children and when children will live with each parent. While parents may be able to resolve these disagreements by negotiating with each other and their respective attorneys or participating in mediation, there are some cases where parents may reach an impasse and be unable to resolve these matters on their own. When decisions about child custody are left up to a family court judge, a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) may be appointed to help determine how to resolve these issues.

Understanding the Role of a Guardian ad Litem

When a judge is asked to make decisions about child custody, they may not have enough information about the case to be able to determine what arrangements would be in the children’s best interests. To gain the necessary information, the judge may appoint a Guardian ad Litem, who is an attorney that will advocate on behalf of the children rather than either parent. A parent may also request that a GAL be appointed during their case.

The GAL will use a variety of methods to gather information about the case. These may include:

In a divorce proceeding that involves a child, one of the most important and often contested matters that ex-spouses have to settle is the allocation of decision-making responsibilities. While some couples can agree on the allocation of these responsibilities with relatively no issues, others may struggle on certain topics. If you are a parent who is seeking sole decision-making responsibilities of your child, it is imperative to discuss your case with an experienced family law attorney.

What Decision Making Responsibilities Can the Court Allocate?

If the parents of a child cannot agree upon the allocation of significant decision-making responsibilities in writing, the court system will make that determination. With the goal of determining the child’s best interests, the court will consider many factors before granting this privilege to one or both of the parents. According to 750 ILCS 5/602.5, these responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

• Choice of education

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       As of March 31, 2020, Governor Pritzker has confirmed that the shelter-in-place order shall remain until at least April 30, 2020.  Regretfully, many people and businesses alike are feeling the financial hardship that COVID-19 has caused to the economy. Moreover, it has led many people to fear that they will not be able to pay their court ordered child support or maintenance as a result of the loss of income and/or employment.