Sometimes, even the so-called “simplest” divorces, where the parties have no children, can be stressful and tedious. But if you add children-related issues in a divorce, you have an entirely different set of issues which must be addressed before you can finalize your divorce. One of those issues is child support, which is a very important subject for many divorcing couples, especially if one parent has the children more often than the other. Child support is the financial obligation that both parents have to their children, and it is important that each parent pays his or her fair share.
Calculating the Basic Child Support Obligation
First, each parent’s monthly net income is calculated. Then, both of the parents’ net incomes are added together. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (IDHFS) is the governing body that deals with child support calculations, and they periodically publish guidelines for calculating child support based on parents’ combined income. The IDHFS’s basic child support obligation table lists a child support obligation amount that corresponds with parents’ combined income and the number of children they have. This number is what the state of Illinois considers to be the total amount that parents at that income level are expected to provide for their children.
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