If your child’s other parent has been convicted of a crime and is in jail or prison, you may have dozens of concerns, including worries regarding child support. When an individual is incarcerated, their financial obligations are usually still considered valid. This includes child support payments. Read on to learn about how incarceration can affect child support payments as well as what to do if you are not receiving court-ordered child support.

Parents in Jail Are Still Responsible for Child Support

When a judge orders a parent to pay their child’s other parent child support, that requirement is generally intended to last until the child is an adult. A child’s financial needs do not stop just because a parent is incarcerated. If your child’s other parent in in jail, he or she is still responsible for his or her court-ordered child support payments. However, the parent may be able to petition the court for a temporary modification of their child support obligation.

Courts only grant a child support modification if the parent can prove that he or she has had a major change in his or her financial circumstances. Some incarcerated parents are able to participate in a work release program which provides them with the funds needed to pay child support, but others will have no income. In situations in which an incarcerated parent cannot pay child support, the total amount of past due support payments will be due at the time of their release.

In most cases, a parent’s child support obligations end when the child turns 18 years of age. However, there are some occasions where a parent may be required to contribute to their child’s expenses and upkeep even after the child reaches majority. The most common occasion is when college comes into question, but others exist.

What Should Be Covered?

The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act discusses the situations in which non-minor child support may be awarded by the court during a divorce proceeding or at a later date. The court may order support for an adult child who is mentally or physically disabled and will require an elevated level of care for the foreseeable future or for the educational expenses for a minor or non-minor child. While the care of a disabled child is a fairly straightforward endeavor, the question of what constitutes “educational expenses” and who should pay them can get quite complex.

Establishing initial child support arrangements that adequately reflect the financial abilities of both parents can often be a challenge. Having one standardized system for determining child support is an important step toward equality in payments. Federal law requires a specific system, but does not require a uniform model for all states. Two primary standards have developed, as a result, in determining child support formulas: percentage of obligor income model and income shares model.

Illinois Obligor Income Model

Under current law, Illinois employs the lesser-used system, known as the percentage of obligor income model, because of its ease and simplicity. In this model, the income of the payor, or supporting parent, after taxes and other deductions, is taken into consideration, and a percentage of this income is set as the payment based upon the number of children to be supported. However, the more money and assets one possesses, the more difficult it is to determine fair payment, especially if the custodial parent has more income or assets than the payor parent.