Choosing Your Method for Paying Child Support

 Posted on May 31, 2020 in Child Support

Child support is mandatory for all divorces that include children. Whichever parent has a smaller share of parenting time will be required to pay monthly child support to the other parent. Illinois bases its child support amount on an income shares model that considers how much raising the children should cost and the comparative incomes of the parents. If you are the parent who is required to pay child support, you have multiple methods by which you can send the payments to your co-parent. It is important to use a dependable method so that the payments get to your co-parent without difficulty and there is a record that you are in compliance with your child support order.

What Are the Ways You Can Pay Child Support?

The method that you use to pay child support may depend on the type of job you have and your personal preference:

• Withholding income is the preferred method for many because your employer will be responsible for deducting the child support amount from your pay and sending it to your co-parent.
• If you are self-employed, you will need to send the payments electronically, by phone, or by mail.

Whether it is you or your employer, child support payments should be sent to the Illinois State Disbursement Unit (ISDU), who will transfer the payment to your co-parent. It is possible to pay child support directly to your co-parent, but sending payments through the ISDU ensures that the state knows that you are in compliance with your child support order.

What If Your Co-Parent Claims That You Missed a Payment?

Non-payment of child support is a serious allegation that can lead to the garnishment of wages and assets or legal penalties. If you believe that the allegation against you is false, you should:

• Check with the ISDU to see if your payment was received and sent
• Ask your employer whether they withheld the required amount from your pay and sent it to the ISDU
• Present transaction records to show when you made the payment

It is possible that your employer or the ISDU made a mistake in sending out the payment or that your co-parent may be lying about not receiving the payment.

Contact a Kane County Divorce Attorney

If you are unsure of how you should make your child support payments, a St. Charles, Illinois, divorce lawyer at Goostree Law Group can explain how each method works and answer any other questions you have about child support or divorce in general. Schedule a free consultation by calling 630-584-4800.

Source:

https://www.illinois.gov/hfs/ChildSupport/FormsBrochures/Pages/hfs8189.aspx#:~:text=%C2%B7%20Pay%20by%20Phone%20%E2%80%93%201%2D,Flat%20Rate%20fee%20of%20%2414.95.