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IL Child Support Calculator: (2017) New Income Shares Model

New Child Support Law Effective July 1, 2017

Starting July 1, 2017 Illinois will have the biggest change to the Illinois Child Support statute in decades. The net income, percentage of income model has been the law of the land, in Illinois, for over 30 years. The main criticism of the current law is that it fails to account for both parents’ income and the standard of living the child would have enjoyed had the family remained intact. Under the new law, gone is the percentage model. Illinois will be the 40th state to implement an income shares model. “To calculate child support based upon the parent’s combined adjusted net income estimated to have been allocated to the child if the parents and children were living in an intact household”. 750 ILCS 5/505 (a)(1)(D). Therefore underlying public policy for the new law is to account for the standard of living the child would have had, to reward parents who have physical possession of the child for half the year, and to make each parent contribute to the cost of raising the child.

CURRENT LAW:

Currently, Illinois follows the net income/percentage model, whereby child support is calculated based upon a percentage of the net income of the obligor. Illinois child support is 20% for one child, 28% for two, 32% for three, 40% for four, and 50% for five or more children. The real variable is what determines “net income.” Under the current statute, some of the things that are deducted from gross income, to arrive at net income include, but are not limited to, mandatory union dues, health insurance, life insurance, student loans, and other expenses necessary for the production of income and various business expenses.

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