Many parents pay or receive child support in Chicago or Des Plaines, IL, and missteps occur for various reasons. Common mistakes to avoid in child support cases include failing to account for all of a parent’s net income, not checking the math before agreeing to anything, and not trying to modify child support when there is a change in circumstances.
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Mistakes to Avoid in Chicago or Des Plaines Child Support Cases
Child support is a nuanced issue, one reason mistakes are so common. These five mistakes are among the most prevalent.
1. Neglecting to Review Illinois Guidelines
Parents may make assumptions without realizing that is what they are doing. For example, a parent might assume that child support is based entirely on the paying parent’s income, not realizing it can be based on both parents’ incomes, parenting time, and many other factors, depending on the jurisdiction.
When you live in Chicago or Des Plaines, IL, it is important to familiarize yourself with Illinois guidelines specifically. The state uses the income shares model and bases child support on many variables, including both parents’ combined net income and the number of children, each parent’s parenting time, and expenses such as childcare and extracurriculars.
2. Forgetting to Check the Math
Parents should double-check that their calculations are correct. If you have a lawyer, he or she can handle this.
One area where many people go wrong is including or excluding the wrong things from their income. For instance, a parent might not realize that his or her net income for child support calculations is after making retirement, health insurance, Social Security, and other types of contributions or deductibles.
3. Not Consulting a Lawyer (or Waiting Too Long to Consult One)
Common mistakes to avoid in child support cases include not discussing your case with a child support lawyer, or waiting to do so until other things have happened that are harder to change. Speaking with a lawyer as early as possible helps parents better understand all of their options and legal obligations. Child support orders typically last for at least three years, so any lawyer fees usually pay for themselves quickly.
A lawyer can still help if you waited and are dealing with child support orders that a court has entered. Of course, it is harder to make changes at that point, since parents typically must show a change in circumstances from recent events.
4. Not Modifying an Order When It Is Necessary
A parent might experience job loss, retirement, or other major changes, or the child’s needs might change quite a bit. Try to modify child support payments in cases where the ability to pay has changed or where the child’s needs are different. If a parent waits too long after a layoff or some other life change, he or she might fall behind in payments and still be responsible for paying them. A lawyer can help with modification.
5. Refusing Parenting Time
This is among the biggest and, often, the saddest common mistakes to avoid in child support cases. Some parents mistakenly think child support and parenting time are the same issue. In cases of missed child support payments, parents might think it is OK to deny visitation.
In reality, they are separate issues, and keeping children away from a parent who wants to see them hurts the children, too. A parent could get in trouble for withdrawing visitation and refusing access over unpaid child support.
It is better for parents to report the child support delinquency to their lawyer or Illinois Child Support Services. The parent may be able to file a lawsuit for unpaid child support, and the state can use means such as wage garnishments, driver’s license suspension, and passport denials to get payments.
Mistakes to Avoid in Custody Cases
Children make up 20% of the population in Chicago, and they deserve care and consideration. If you are dealing with child custody cases as well as child support, it is also good to be aware of common custody missteps.
- Relocating with the child, but without the other parent’s permission: Doing this could be child abduction, depending on the particulars of your case and whether you are required to get approval. Many parents must get permission, and it is a way to make sure the move is in the child’s interest.
- Coaching your children: Some parents try to coach or train their children to say certain things to the guardian ad litem or judge. However, these authorities are good at picking up when children have been coached, and it often backfires against the parent. The court sees it as the parent forcing the children to pick sides and dragging them into the middle of a conflict.
- Ignoring court orders: Court orders can be temporary or permanent. Whichever type they are, parents must follow them. This is also the case whether orders relate to parenting time, child support, or other matters. If you ignore them, you open yourself up to a loss of credibility with the court and various penalties such as fines.
- Lacking documentation: You need documentation to prove the points you are trying to make with your custody case. Medical records, text messages from the other parent, and receipts related to child expenses, among many other types of documentation, could be helpful.
- Talking bad about the other parent: Avoid talking negatively about the other parent to the children or in the children’s presence where they might overhear. Such actions are likely to hurt your relationship with the children in the long run and may weaken your child custody case.
Of course, it is normal to be worried about your children’s future and your relationship with them. The Rogoff Law Group can discuss your child support and child custody cases. Contact us today.