State Law Imposes Tough Penalties on “Deadbeat” Parents

 Posted on July 08, 2014 in Child Support

Illinois law grants the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (specifically, the Division of Child Support Enforcement) with the authority to disclose information about “deadbeat” parents. These are parents who are delinquent in making child support payments, and who have accumulated past-due amounts of $5,000 or more. Their pictures, biographical information, and child support debt can be found online.

While having your child support delinquency advertised online is certainly embarrassing, it can also have a negative effect on future employment and other financial opportunities. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Illinois takes child support delinquency seriously, which is why state officials take a tough approach to punishing “deadbeat” parents.

Failure to support is a separately defined offense. A person is guilty of this offense when he or she:

• Willfully refuses to pay maintenance or child support when the need for support and the ability to pay exist;
• Willfully fails to pay – but has the ability to pay – a support obligation, when that obligation has gone unpaid for more than six months or is more than $5,000 in arrears;
• Leaves the state with the intent of evading a support obligation, when that obligation has gone unpaid for at least six months, or is in arrears for more than $10,000; or
• Willfully fails to pay – but has the ability to pay – a support obligation that has gone unpaid for more than one year or is more than $20,000 in arrears.

(Note that there is a rebuttable presumption that a parent has the ability to pay a child support order if that order is not the result of default judgment.) A parent who fails to support based on the first two criteria is guilty of a misdemeanor. A parent who fails to support based on the second two criteria, or who commits a second offense based on the first two criteria, is guilty of a Class 4 felony.

In addition to standard fines and jail sentences, a court may impose extra fines, plus restitution, for support obligations that have gone unpaid for a substantially long period of time. But again, this is just the tip of the iceberg. A “deadbeat” parent may be subject to the following consequences:

• Withholding of income to secure payment of support obligations;
• Unpaid child support may accrue interest;
• The offender may be required to perform community service for 30 to 120 hours a month;
• The offender may be placed in a work alternative program administered by the sheriff during non-working hours (this is in addition to maintaining regular employment); and
• Suspension of driving privileges.

These are tough penalties, and obviously the greater the unpaid support, the tougher the penalty that a court will impose, especially if the delinquent parent has the ability to pay. If you are delinquent in your child support payments, you need to contact an experienced Kane County family law attorney who can help you get back on track. That might entail proving financial hardship and seeking a more affordable payment plan. Call us today for a consultation. We can assist those in the St. Charles area.