If you are the parent of a minor child and you are facing a divorce or paternity case in Illinois there are a few simple rules that explain it all.  Support related to the money that a non custodial (or non primary residential) parent pays to a custodial or residential parent for the basic needs of a child.  Let me point out that there is no difference in the liability of a parent in a divorce action or in a paternity action; it’s all the same (equal protection).  So what are the basic rules: support is a percentage of the non custodial parent’s net income?  In Illinois and many states there is a simple table that is called a minimum guide line support (I will discuss the word “minimum” later as well as define “net income”).

In Illinois one child gets 20%, two children 28%, three children 32%, 4 children 40%, 5 children 45% and over 5 children 50% of net income.  Simple enough, well define “net income” it’s whatever is left after the deduction of Federal and State Income Taxes, Medicare & Social Security Taxes, health insurance (for the child), union dues and a few other deductions.  If you think about it, with a 3% Illinois Tax, a 6.75 FICA & MEDICARE tax, and average tax rates of 20-22% you could very easily pay taxes of 30% of your income and with 3 children another 22.4%  (32% of the 70% that’s left after taxes). So that the average wage earner with 3 kids has to live on less than half of his/her gross income.  While that seems difficult for the wage earner, the supported spouse and 3 children are living on child support of approximately half of the gross income.  This does not include maintenance (alimony . . . spousal support); for child support, the custodial (or primary residential) parent’s income is not even considered.  

Alimony or Maintenance (spousal support in a kinder and gentler word) is the payment that a high earning spouse pays to a spouse that earns much less.  This is a lot more complicated.  In some of the county in Illinois there are informal formulas and in others the formula is not formalized, but none the less there.  It’s a function of the number of years of the marriage (from the date of marriage to the date of dissolution) and the difference between the spouses’ gross earnings (some places give consideration to child support, others don’t but use a lower amount);  the only rule here is that there is no alimony or maintenance in a paternity case and perhaps that is the only distinction between the married and unmarried in the family law courts beside the differences in the property and debt distribution.   But even there are exceptions to the rule.  In a paternity case which has long since started a trend in both paternity and divorce cases, the court gave the non custodial parent the obligation of splitting the day care child care expenses for the custodial parent.  While it can’t be called alimony, it can be as expensive and does not stop just because you are married (its is in addition to child support, maintenance, and extra ordinary expenses).

If all this seems confusing, then look at the tax treatment: child support is not tax deductable and maintenance is generally taxable to the recipient and deductable to the payor but even with that general rule, there are all the exceptions and variations to complex and lengthy to cover here…  This is where the expert hand of the attorney who has concentrated his/her practice in family law and has experience will prove valuable. Striking the proper combination of these elements is an art akin to the alchemist who learned to turn lead into gold.  

For those of you who like to read rules the following is the child support statutes that apply in Illinois: