Des Plaines Child Support Lawyer
How much child support you may pay or receive in Illinois depends on both parents’ incomes, your parenting arrangement, the number of children you share, and certain expenses associated with raising your child. The guideline calculation is an important starting point, but your actual support order should reflect the financial circumstances of your family.
At The Rogoff Law Group, P.C., we help parents in Des Plaines, Chicago, and throughout Cook County understand how child support applies to their circumstances. Scott D. Rogoff has practiced family law since 1993, helping parents establish support, seek modifications when circumstances change, enforce existing orders, and address related parentage issues.
A child support order should be based on accurate financial information and the needs of your child. We help you understand the numbers, identify the issues that could affect your order, and work toward an arrangement that is fair under Illinois law.
How Is Child Support Calculated in Illinois?
Illinois generally uses the Income Shares Model to calculate child support. The model considers the combined net income of both parents and estimates the amount that would have been available to support the child if the parents lived together. Each parent is then responsible for a share of the basic support obligation based on their proportion of the combined net income.
What Income and Expenses Affect Support?
Your income is only part of the child support calculation. The court considers both parents’ net incomes, the number of children, parenting time, and certain child-related expenses. Health insurance, medical costs, work-related child care, and school or extracurricular expenses may also affect what you pay or receive.
How Does Variable Income Affect Support?
Variable or self-employment income can make the calculation more complicated. Bonuses, commissions, business income, and other fluctuating earnings may need closer review. Disputes can also arise over how much income a parent actually earns. The income figure used in the calculation can directly affect the amount of support ordered.
How Does Parenting Time Affect Support?
Parenting time can directly affect the child support calculation. Illinois has specific rules for shared physical care when each parent has the child for at least 110 overnights per year. The calculation changes based on the number of overnights and each parent’s income. Shared parenting does not automatically eliminate child support, even when parenting time is close to equal.
Call The Rogoff Law Group, P.C. at (847) 768-2194 for personalized legal representation in Chicago and the surrounding areas.
Who Pays Child Support in Illinois?
Both parents have a legal duty to support their child, but one parent will typically make payments to the other under the support order.
Do not assume that the parent with less parenting time will always pay the same amount or that having close to equal parenting time means no support will be ordered. Your respective incomes and parenting arrangement both matter.
If you are trying to determine what you may pay or receive, we can review the financial information used in the calculation and explain how Illinois guidelines apply to your family.
What Financial Information Matters in Your Child Support Case?
Your child support case may require more than exchanging recent pay stubs. Depending on how you and the other parent earn income, useful records may include tax returns, W-2s, 1099s, bank records, business records, bonus information, and documentation of health insurance or child care costs.
If you own a business or have variable income, determining the income available for support can require closer review.
Illinois law also addresses situations in which a parent is voluntarily unemployed or underemployed. The court may consider potential income in appropriate circumstances rather than simply accepting a reduced income figure.
Keep your financial records organized and complete. Good documentation can help resolve disagreements about the numbers before they become larger disputes.
Can You Change Your Child Support Order?
Your support order does not necessarily remain appropriate when your family’s circumstances change. A substantial change in circumstances may provide grounds to seek a modification.
For example, income changes may affect child support, as can significant changes in parenting time or your child’s financial needs.
If you lost your job, received a substantial raise, changed careers, experienced a prolonged illness, or now have a significantly different parenting schedule, we can review whether those changes may support a modification.
If your current order no longer reflects your circumstances, acting promptly can matter.
Call The Rogoff Law Group, P.C. at (847) 768-2194 to discuss whether your child support order may be modified.
If your income or circumstances change, do not simply start paying a different amount or rely on an informal agreement with the other parent. Your existing child support order remains important until it is legally modified, and Illinois generally limits modification to installments accruing after notice of the request. If your current order no longer reflects your circumstances, acting promptly can matter.
What Can You Do If Child Support Is Not Being Paid?
If the other parent is falling behind, you do not have to rely solely on repeated requests for payment. A child support order can be enforced through legal procedures.
Depending on the circumstances, enforcement may involve income withholding, interception or seizure of certain funds or assets, license-related consequences, or contempt proceedings. The appropriate approach depends on the amount owed and the history of nonpayment.
Our attorneys can review your order, payment history, and arrears to determine what enforcement options may be available. You can also learn more about collecting child support from a parent who is not paying.
If you are the parent ordered to pay and you can no longer afford your current obligation, do not ignore the order or allow arrears to accumulate without addressing the problem. A modification request may be appropriate if your circumstances meet Illinois requirements.
Do You Need to Establish Parentage Before Seeking Child Support?
If legal parentage has not already been established, that issue may need to be resolved before a child support order can be entered.
Depending on your circumstances, parentage may be established through a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity or through an administrative or court proceeding. A parentage case can affect more than financial support. It may also relate to parental responsibilities and parenting time.
We can help you determine whether parentage is already legally established and what steps may be necessary before your support case moves forward.
How Can a Child Support Lawyer Help You?
Child support disputes are often disagreements about numbers, but resolving them requires understanding where those numbers came from.
Our divorce lawyers can review your income information, the other parent’s financial disclosures, your parenting schedule, and expenses related to your child. We can calculate the guideline amount, identify issues that may justify a different result, and explain what you can reasonably expect before you make decisions about your case.
When an agreement is possible, we work toward practical terms that reduce unnecessary conflict. When the other parent disputes the financial facts or refuses to follow an existing order, we can present the issue to the court.
Our goal is to give you realistic advice and a clear path forward, whether you are establishing support for the first time or dealing with a problem under an existing order.
Our Family Law Practice Areas
Divorce Lawyer
Our Des Plaines divorce lawyers will help you navigate your uncontested or contested divorce, so you can move forward to enjoy your best life.
Child Custody
At The Rogoff Law Group, P.C., our child custody lawyers help ensure the right parenting plan is in place for your children to thrive.
Child Support
With over 29 years of experience helping parents maintain financial stability for their children, child support lawyer Scott D. Rogoff knows what it takes to help you win.
Spousal Maintenance
Spousal maintenance attorney Scott D. Rogoff can help make sure equitable temporary, fixed-term, or permanent alimony orders are in place, so your financial future is safeguarded.
Prenuptial Agreements
Your assets, your inheritance, and your children’s rights are at stake. Prenuptial agreement lawyer Scott D. Rogoff can help ensure your finances are protected.
Call The Rogoff Law Group, P.C. to fight for your parenting rights in Illinois today. (847) 768-2194 or
FAQs About Child Support in Illinois
Child support questions do not always end once the court calculates a monthly payment. Your income, your child’s education, or the other parent’s employment decisions may raise additional issues.
Does Child Support Include College Expenses?
Illinois courts can order parents to contribute to qualifying educational expenses for a non-minor child. These expenses are addressed separately from ordinary child support and may include tuition, housing, books, fees, medical expenses, and other qualifying costs. Your financial resources, the other parent’s resources, and your child’s circumstances can affect what the court orders.
How Can You Show That the Other Parent Is Earning Less on Purpose?
The court may look beyond the income the other parent currently reports when there is a question about voluntary unemployment or underemployment. Employment history, prior earnings, education, job skills, health, job-search efforts, and available employment opportunities may become relevant. If you believe the income being reported does not reflect the other parent’s earning ability, financial and employment records can help your attorney evaluate whether potential income should be raised in your case.
Does Remarriage Automatically Change Child Support?
No. Your remarriage or the other parent’s remarriage does not automatically replace the existing child support order. However, changes in your financial circumstances may raise questions about whether modification is appropriate. Because the effect depends on the facts of your case, have your existing order reviewed before assuming a new marriage changes what you pay or receive.
Can You Stop Paying Support If the Other Parent Denies Parenting Time?
Do not assume you can stop making court-ordered child support payments because the other parent is interfering with your parenting time. Support and parenting-time disputes involve separate legal obligations. If your parenting order is not being followed, you may have enforcement options, but withholding support on your own can create additional problems.
Talk to a Des Plaines Child Support Lawyer
Your child support order can affect your household budget and your ability to provide for your child for years. You should understand how the amount was calculated, whether the financial information is accurate, and what options you have when circumstances change.
The Rogoff Law Group, P.C. helps parents in Des Plaines, Chicago, Cook County, and surrounding communities address child support as part of divorce, parentage, modification, and enforcement cases.
Call The Rogoff Law Group, P.C. at (847) 768-2194 for a consultation with an Illinois child support lawyer about your case.
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