Subscribe in a reader

Employer's Failure to Pay Illinois Child Support a $1.2 Million Mistake!

In Lenora Ann Miller v. Harold Miller, the Illinois Supreme Court recently reinstated a judgment against Harold Miller, Sr. in the amount of $1,172,000 for failure to pay child support of $12,382! Mr. Miller, Sr. was both the father and employer of Harold Miller. Harold Miller owed child support to Lenora under a divorce judgment to be withheld from his paychecks by his employer, Harold Miller, Sr. Lenora Miller's attorney served Mr. Miller, Sr. with an Order of Withholding, which requires an employer to withhold child support from an employee's paycheck and forward the funds to the Illinois State Disbursement Unit. The statute behind this, 750 ILCS 28/35, provides that for each day an employer fails to make support payments pursuant to such an order, a $100 independent penalty applies. In the underlying case the trial court determined that the total failure to pay resulted in 11,721 seperate penalties against the employer for the total sum of almost $1.2 million.

Bottom line: If you are an employer served with an Order of Withholding, you must obey that order. Otherwise the potential penalties are extremely severe. The Supreme Court held that the penalty was not unconstitutional despite the amount. Also, if you are a support recipient and your ex' employer is not paying although served with an Order of Withholding, you may be entitled to substantial penalties from the employer, not just your ex spouse.

Please contact us with any Illinois family law issues or email. We work in Cook, DuPage, and Will Counties primarily. We concentrate in complex family law and divorce cases.

Labels: Child Support, divorce, enforcement, illinois, judgment, order of withholding

posted by Raiford Palmer at 2:44 PM

Parentage (Paternity) Cases

Essentially, in Illinois, unmarried parents by law can secure the same rights as married (divorcing) parents with respect to minor children (those under 18). They also have the same obligations. Here is a basic, abbreviated list:

1. The child has a right to visitation (parenting time) with the parent.
2. The non custodial parent has an obligation to pay child support (with the same income rules as divorced parents), and child support is retroactive to the date of birth;
3. The non custodial parent must pay medical expenses related to prenatal care and childbirth;
4. The non custodial parent must share medical insurance and medical, dental, and optical expenses with the other parent;
5. The non custodial parent must share in post-high school (college/vocational school) expenses for the child.

Unless a Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity (VAP) is signed by the father, we recommend a DNA test in all cases to verify paternity. It is cheap and painless (the lab takes a swab from inside the mouth).

If no court order exists regarding parentage, there is no way to enforce visitation or child support claims. Obtaining a court order early is in the best interest of the child and both parents in the long run.

Please contact Raiford Palmer for DuPage, Cook, or Will County paternity case. He can be reached at 630.434.0400 Ext. 165.

Labels: Child Support, DNA, parentage, Paternity

posted by Raiford Palmer at 5:52 PM

Illinois Child Support - Court Order for Support Changes A Must

The only safe way to establish support, reduce it, cancel it, or increase it is to get a court order. Even if you and your ex have an agreement (and even if it is in writing) this is no guarantee that it will be binding later. We've heard of horror stories where one spouse agreed to accept no support for a period of time when the support payor lost a job, only to claim two years later that there was no agreement! Remember, interest piles up at 9% per year for each missed support payment!

Don't trust something so important to a verbal agreement or even a written one. Getting a court order (especially when the parties agree) is fairly easy to do, as long as you comply with the law. The Court will check to be sure you are not going below the legal minimums for support (20% of net income for one child for example) or that you have a valid reason to terminate (child reaches age 18).

This comes up often in cases of "abatement." The typical scenario is where the support payor loses a job and is looking for a new one. The payor and the ex agree that while the payor is looking for a job no support is due. The payor gets a job and resumes paying support. However, the law says in that case that support may be abated (basically paused) but that it continues to pile up. During this time the payor does not need to pay the support as normal, but resumes paying when back on the job. The thing a lot of people miss is 1) they don't get an order and 2) they think the missed payments are "forgiven." Not true. You still owe the money, you were just allowed to pay later.

Don't make the mistake of working under a verbal or even written agreement. The only thing truly binding is a Court order. Also, don't wait to get the order entered. The Court will not allow you to "go back" and terminate or abate retroactively. For example, if you waited a month after losing your job, and failed to pay during that month, the support is actually a missed payment and begins to accrue interest (and you are behind now on your support)! The date you file your motion to abate is the date the Court will use for retroactivity, even if it takes a month or two to enter the order. Another thing--most courts require preparation and filing of an income and expense affidavit when bringing any petition regarding money (child support, maintenance (alimony), etc.). Be sure to prepare the form (or have us do it) and provide the supporting documents (usually past three years of tax returns and a couple of current pay stubs will do it).

Please call 630.434.0400 to schedule your consultation about divorce or post-decree case with attorney Raiford Palmer. Or, email me.

Labels: agreement, Child Support, child support dupage county, cook county divorce appeals, court order, dupage divorce lawyer, increase, reduction

posted by Raiford Palmer at 12:52 PM