A quick look at Illinois Family Laws

Illinois is an “irreconcilable differences” divorce state.   We no longer have custody and visitation for the most part. It’s called “Parenting Time” now.  Child support calculations take a worksheet, some tables, and a calculator, or a computer program to figure out the correct support amount.
Maintenance: In some states, maintenance is called alimony, but in Illinois we call it maintenance. If the court finds maintenance is appropriate (usually because of a huge income discrepancy over 60/40) depending on how long the marriage is, you have to use a table or computer program to calculate the duration. That depends on the number of years of marriage. The formula is determined by taking 33 1/3% of the payor’s gross income and subtract 25% of the receiving person’s gross income. But the receiving spouse cannot get more than 40% of the combined net income. The duration of maintenance is determined by the years the spouses were married and for a 20-year marriage, there could be theoretically no end date.
Parenting Time: Generally, child custody is now presumed to be joint.  That does not mean a 50-50 time share though.  The forms we use (called a Parenting Plan) designate who is the parent who make decisions like schooling, medical, religious, etc. Usually, it is both parents who make these decisions together. A primary parent for “school purposes” needs to be designated.  Then the parents have to decide who gets parenting time and when on the parenting plan. If the parents cannot figure it out, then a mediator assists the parents in making a schedule or, if all else fails, the judge makes the decision about the parenting plan.
Child Support: We must have both parents’ income in order to figure out child support. There is a computer program run by the State of Illinois that can be used to figure out what the income shares and child support should be. You do not get to deduct your Christmas club and 401 (k) loan to figure out what your income is! After mom and dad’s incomes are compared, the child support is allocated by percentages. If Mom earns 50% more income than dad, her share of the support is also 50% more. If the kids live with mom, dad pays his share of the child support to mom.  (It is paid through the State Disbursement Unit in Carol Stream, Illinois, usually through a payroll deduction.) Child support can get tricky when both parents have equal or nearly equal parenting time with the children. If the children live with mom, but dad has more than 40% of the overnights with the children, dad gets a big discount in his child support. As a matter of fact, in this example where mom earns 50% more income than dad, mom might actually end up paying support to dad!