Workers' Compensation Part of Income for Support Payments

 Posted on April 24, 2018 in Divorce Finances

Illinois divorce courts consider workers’ compensation benefits and personal injury damages much the same way as other properties. They are marital property if they originated during the marriage. Any compensation awarded before or after the marriage is non-marital property. Determining which status applies can be crucial because injury compensation is often lucrative:

• Workers’ compensation covers medical costs and gives periodic payments to replace lost income due to temporary or permanent disability; and
• Personal injury compensation is usually a lump sum but can be more valuable than workers’ compensation because it includes pain and suffering.

Even when injury compensation is not a marital property, it can still affect spousal maintenance and child support payments.

Spousal Maintenance

Divorce courts determine whether to award spousal maintenance and its value based on each spouse’s average income, future earning potential, properties owned, and expenses owed. Injury compensation affects all of these factors because:

• Compensation is part of and sometimes in place of a spouse’s income;
• Payments may compensate a disability by making up for a spouse’s diminished earning potential;
• Compensation is a property, whether marital or nonmarital; and
• Part of the function of compensation is to pay for ongoing medical expenses.

The value of injury compensation helps determine whether a spouse is able to pay maintenance or requires maintenance payments from the other spouse. If the injured spouse has a greater income, the court will still consider how much the spouse relies on the compensation when deciding on maintenance.

Child Support

While both represent payments from one spouse to the other, the purpose of child support is different from spousal maintenance. Maintenance compensates a spouse with less financial resources after a divorce. Child support is a shared expense between both spouses. Illinois starts by determining the cost of child-related expenses and makes each parent responsible for a percentage of it, based on their proportionate incomes. Injury compensation is part of or in place of a spouse’s income. It is also important to note that a court can garnish workers’ compensation benefits if the injured parent is not paying his or her share of child support. Illinois law protects injury compensation benefits from creditors but not co-parents. Parents receiving workers' compensation benefits should request a modification to child support if they cannot afford the payments.

Protecting Injury Compensation

Your injury compensation benefits are important to you because you rely on them to pay for medical expenses or to replace lost income. You may also feel like you earned the compensation because you are the one who suffered the injury. A Kane County divorce attorney at Goostree Law Group can help you protect your injury compensation benefits during your divorce. To schedule a free consultation, call 630-584-4800.

Source:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/documents/075000050k503.htm