New Child Support Bill Signed into Law

 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Child Support

For children whose parents are separated, and for the parents who have custody over them, child support is key to financial stability. However, if parents fall behind in their child support payments, they can cause their children and co-parents economic distress.

However, a new Bill, recently signed into law, addresses these issues. The Bill is aimed at ensuring that children and their parents receive timely child support payments by studying the root causes of the failure to pay child support. Additionally, the Bill calls for policy recommendations on how to address these root causes and how to streamline the child support system.

The Bill

House Bill 2791, sponsored by State Rep. Camille Lilly, D-Chicago, requires the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to conduct a study researching the reasons why parents do not pay child support. Often, parents fall behind in their support payments because they are unable to pay, not because they do not care.

The study will focus on three areas:

1. Demographics of the people who fail to pay;
2. Institutional barriers to payment; and
3. Impact that delinquent payments have on the ability to be considered, interviewed, and hired for a job.

Demographic considerations include one's income, education level, age when he or she first became a parent, criminal history, number of children and primary spoken language.

Studying the impact that delinquent payments have on employment is essential — if a parent’s delinquent child support payments preclude him or her from obtaining employment, then the parent would therefore not be able to pay support. The Department is to consider whether or not credit and background checks reveal unpaid child support. If so, does the information discovered have an impact on one's ability to get a job?

In 2017, the Department will present the results of the study to the Governor and the General Assembly. Additionally, the Department will make policy recommendations to help minimize the barriers to payment and streamline the process of paying support.

The bill had bipartisan support and was recently signed into law by Governor Bruce Rauner.

Consequences of Delinquent Support

Currently, in Illinois, there is over $3 billion owed to children in back support payments. Explaining her Bill, Rep. Lilly noted that not receiving support payments denies children opportunities, especially in education — unpaid child support causes difficulties for these children to live up to their full potential later in life.

If you have not been receiving your regular child support payments, resolving that delinquency as soon as possible is important to your child’s current situation and future. Please contact skilled Palatine family law attorney Nicholas W. Richardson today to schedule a consultation to discuss your case.

Resources:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/fulltext.asp?DocName=&SessionId=88&GA=99&DocTypeId=HB&DocNum=2791&GAID=13&LegID=&SpecSess=&Session=

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/elmwood-park/community/chi-ugc-article-lilly-introduced-law-a-first-step-to-ensuring-2015-08-07-story.html