Child Support Confusion and Traps: What to Know

Termination: Child support does not always terminate automatically. Please contact an attorney 30 days before a child turns 18 or graduates from high school. Many child support orders require a motion before the court to terminate or modify support to remove the obligation for a child. Often, this coincides with an obligation for post-high school education/college, which will be addressed in another article.

Modification: Contact an attorney immediately if:

• A child graduates from high school or drops out of high school.
  
• A child turns age 18. This is important! Child support does not reduce by ½ for two children to one, or by 1/3 for three children to two. Making this assumption may cost thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees and a potential contempt finding. The payor MUST pay the designated amount until support is reduced by court order. This can be done by agreement and can be inexpensive. It will almost always be less in fees than the new support obligation differential.
  
• You lost your job. Or you changed jobs. Neither party will want things to go off the rails due to the lack of correct withholding or incorrect support with a change in insurance.
  
• Your income is reduced. And to be proactive, I strongly recommend that you contact an attorney if your income has increased or if you have a new job with a new pay structure or new benefits.
  
• Your former partner has more income or additional sources of income.
  
• Either party has an additional child – including a discovered minor child under age 18 from 23 & Me or another DNA site.
  
• A child changes their primary residence or parenting time.
  
• There is a change in insurance coverage, premiums, and benefits. This is an integral part of the child support calculation.
  

For more information, please contact:

Wakeman Law Group, PC

741 S. McHenry Ave., Suite A

Crystal Lake, IL 60014

Ph: 815-893-6800

wakemanlaw.net