NOTE: A new Illinois law governing how child support is calculated went into effect in July 2017. Please visit our child support page for details

The state of Illinois takes the obligation to ensure children are supported very seriously. As such, if you are divorced within the state and default on support payments, attorneys have many tools available to them to help collect unpaid child support arrearages. The most common method of doing so is wage garnishment, via your employer.

Why Garnishment?

No good parent wants their children removed from their home. However, if reasonable cause is given, it can happen. If you are placed in this horrible position, there is a specific procedure that is generally followed by the courts. Moreover, you are expected to comply. Therefore it is imperative that you understand your obligations and your rights during this difficult time.

Procedures Before the Dispositional Hearing

The end stage of the child protection process is referred to as the dispositional hearing. Before that, however, there are several different hearings to determine your fitness as a parent and whether or not your child's safety requires foster care.

When two people divorce, they may arrive at an acceptable settlement to allocate their property and other interests, including parenting time with children and an amount of support. However, this does not close the book on all marriage-related matters forever. It is possible in Illinois to make certain modifications to your divorce decree after a Judgment is entered, though not all issues may be reopened.

Spousal & Child Support

In Illinois, a modification to either spousal support or child support may be made if a “substantial change in circumstances” has taken place. Modifications usually occur when someone has either sustained a loss (for example, if the noncustodial parent is loses a job), or when someone has had their financial situation improve. However, it is important to remember that until a court rules on a motion for a modification, payments must continue as previously set. If a party ceased paying support, or began to pay less, it could result in a party filing a petition seeking contempt of court.

When a child is involved in a divorce, an important issue to be resolved is determining how the child will be raised. One aspect of this issue is the religion under which the child will be raised. For some divorcing parents, religion is not an issue, because the parents either have similar religious views or one or both do not have a serious preference. However, for others, the issue of religion is a critical part of the post-divorce relationship.

The issue of a child's religion is becoming more prevalent as couples with different religious beliefs are going through divorce. The decision of what religion a child will be raised can also impact several additional decisions related to the child; such as, education and after-school activities in which the child will be involved. Further, divorcing parents may have intended to agree on the religion of the child during their marriage; however, the strain and emotion of a divorce may cause them to be uncooperative with each other now that they are separating.

Adopting a child from another country is more complex than a domestic adoption. These type of adoptions can be expensive and can take longer to complete. However, this does not make adopting a child from another country impossible. Rather, it just means that there are additional issues of which prospective adoptive parents should be aware.

The Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (Hague Adoption Convention) was designed to provide safety for the children and parents involved in adoptions. The specific objectives are to establish: