Can I Be Charged If I Fail to Pay Child Support in Illinois?

 Posted on September 15, 2013 in Family Law

You can be charged in Illinois if you fail to pay court ordered child support in Illinois. The Illinois Non-Support Punishment Act, took effect October 1, 1999. Since then, there have been prosecutions.

In Cook County, a father from Schaumburg was convicted for failure to pay about $46,000 in support for his two children. The judge sentenced him to 30 months probation.

Samuel Q. Mack, the father of a 7-year-old son, plead guilty and was sentenced him to a year in prison for being delinquent in support payments for more than a year of totalling $16,425. And upon completion of his state prison sentence, he must pay the back support in monthly payments plus interest until he is paid in full.

In that case of Mack, a truck driver, who had worked for at least three different employers, quit working each job in turn once the employer got a Notice to Withhold Child Support order from his paycheck.

In June 2013, in Winnebago County, Illinois, three fathers were indicted by a grand jury for felony failure to pay child support under the Illinois Non-Support Punishment Act.

Each of the three fathers was charged with failure to pay support, a Class 4 felony, punishable by one to three years in prison, a fine up to $25,000 and restitution. One father owed $28,169.57, the second $27,986.60, and the third just $5,525.*

In addition to prosecution, under the Illinois Non-Support Punishment Act, non-paying parents have to serve time under federal laws that make it a crime to flee to another state to avoid paying support.

Recently, Illinois amended the Illinois Public Aid Code (305 ILCS 5/10-10), the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5/505), the Non-Support Punishment Act (750 ILCS 16/20), and the Illinois Parentage Act of 1984 (750 ILCS 45/15) to add penalties for persons not only for those who receive a paycheck from an employer but also to include those who are self-employed or conduct a business and are found in contempt of a court order to pay support.

If you are in need of an experienced child support attorney in Illinois, contact the Law Office of Martoccio & Martoccio located at 15 North Lincoln Street in Hinsdale.

*Source: Rockford Register Star, "Parents who owe child support are warned to pay up or else," RRStar Staff, June 20, 2013.