Many things keep parents of young children awake at night, but few worries are more stressful than the fear of being unable to financially provide. Unfortunately, many parents are worried about money because their child’s other parent refuses to make court-ordered child support payments. If you are in this situation, you know how frustrating it can be; fortunately, there are strategies that can help you recover unpaid child support and get future payments back on track.

Make Sure Your Child Support Order is Enforceable

Many parents who have never been married set up an unofficial arrangement for child support payments. Although this may seem easier than going to court, it actually can result in more complex challenges later on if a parent decides to stop paying. Before you can take measures to get unpaid child support, you have to have a legally enforceable court order. This involves establishing paternity if you have not already done so, and then going to an Illinois family court to petition for child support based on state guidelines.

Get the State Involved

If you have a legally enforceable court order for child support, you can ask the state and federal government to help you get paid. Illinois can restrict a non-paying parent’s driver’s license, suspend professional licenses, submit the failure to pay child support to credit reporting agencies, and even bring criminal charges. Both the Illinois Department of Revenue and the federal Internal Revenue Service allow money to be withheld from tax returns when child support is unpaid.

Studies show that Americans spend a great deal of time on the internet. Whether working remotely, streaming videos, or using social media to keep up with friends and family, we are constantly online. If you are like many people considering divorce, you may wonder if your online activity can impact your divorce. Perhaps you have posted some things online that you are not proud of or shared information about the divorce on your Facebook or Instagram account. If you are already separated, you may even use online dating applications like Tinder.

What you do and say online can be used as evidence in a divorce case. Even posts that were deleted or set to “private” may be used against you in a divorce. If you are getting divorced and you have questions or concerns about how your online activity may impact the case, make sure to reach out to an experienced divorce lawyer for help.

Can Courts Use Online Content to Decide Divorce Issues?

If you use social networking sites or dating apps, have a blog or YouTube channel, or otherwise post information online, you probably wonder how this information could be used in a divorce. Online content, especially social media content, is increasingly used during divorce cases. There are many different ways that what you post online can impact divorce.

Dividing a divorcing couple’s property, money, and debt is an important part of the divorce process. It is also one of the most complex aspects to many divorce cases. If you are getting divorced, you will need to identify each of your assets as either non-marital assets or marital assets. Both spouses have a right to a share of marital property whereas non-marital property belongs only to one spouse. Identifying, valuing, and dividing assets in a divorce can be further complicated by factors such as:

Non-Disclosure of Assets and Debts

Before a married couple can divide their assets and debts during divorce, they must take a full inventory of those assets and debts. Each spouse is asked to provide a financial affidavit listing their property, liabilities, income, and expenses. This financial disclosure may include bank account balances, real estate, stocks, investments, retirement accounts, loans, mortgages, and much more. Financial data from the affidavit influences everything from property division to child support, so accuracy is crucial.

Unfortunately, some spouses intentionally or intentionally leave out information on their affidavits. Hiding assets, undervaluing property, overvaluing debts, or other forms of deception during divorce are not only illegal, but they also increase the complexity of the divorce significantly. Formal discovery tools including depositions and subpoenas are often needed to uncover accurate financial information when a spouse lies on his or her financial affidavit.