Stay-at-home parents can expect to receive the majority of the parenting time and, therefore, also receive child support. As the spouse that earns less money, stay-at-home parents can also expect to receive maintenance (formerly known as alimony) from the other spouse. This combination of child support and maintenance can easily exceed 50% of the payor’s net income, leaving the payor destitute as they support another household at a great cost than their own household. Illinois law has codified that it does not want Illinois divorce courts to be locked into forcing one parent to pay over 50% of net income after a divorce. How Are Maintenance And Child Support Calculated Together In An Illinois Divorce Illinois courts first calculate maintenance. “[I]f the court finds that a maintenance award is appropriate, the court shall order guideline maintenance” 750 ILCS 5/504(b-1) “Guidelines maintenance” is the official mathematical formula which determines most divorced couples’ court ordered maintenance. “Maintenance…shall be calculated by taking 33 1/3% of the payor’s net annual income minus 25% of the payee’s net annual income.” 750 ILCS 5/504(b-1)(1)(A) This maintenance award is capped based on the total income of the parties relative to the maintenance receiver’s independent income. “The amount calculated as maintenance, however, when added to the net income of the payee, shall not result in the payee receiving an amount that is in excess of 40% of the combined net income of the parties.” 750 ILCS 5/504(b-1)(1)(A) An Illinois child support determination isn’t so mathematical. Illinois takes the total income from both parties and finds an appropriate child support amount against a chart published annually by the Illinois Department of Health and Family Services. “The court shall compute the basic child support obligation by taking the following steps:(A) determine each parent’s monthly net income;(B) add the parents’ monthly net incomes together to determine the combined monthly net income of the parents;(C) select the corresponding appropriate amount from the schedule of basic child support obligations based on the parties’ combined monthly net income and number of children of the parties; and(D) calculate each parent’s percentage share of the basic child support obligation.” 750 ILCS 5/505(A)(1.5) The last step, “calculate each parent’s percentage share of the basic child support obligation” requires clarification. If the payor makes $ 100,000 and the payee makes $ 50,000 then the payor must pay 66% of the guidelines child support amount on the chart because […]
