Child Support Anderson Associates Attorneys Schaumburg Illinois

b”Child Support Anderson & Associates Attorneys Schaumburg Illinois
Child Support – An Overview

In America, there are more than 13 million divorced parents with children under the age of 21. Typically, one of the parents has physical custody and relies on child support paid by the other parent. Statistics show that when all child support is paid as agreed in the divorce decree, both parents remain involved with their children and the children usually have an acceptable standard of living. Conversely, when child support is not paid custodial parents and their children are at risk for financial turmoil. Unfortunately, a disproportionate number of divorced single parents and their children do not receive child support and live below established poverty levels.

Enforcing the obligation to pay child support is a national priority. Federal legislation and uniform state laws exist to make enforcement and collection of child support easier. Each state has different guidelines for establishing child support and there are various methods in the law that exist to recover the support you are owed. If you are ending a marriage, or already divorced and trying to make your child’s other parent legally responsible, it is important to consult with an family law attorney. An attorney with experience in the area of child support will help you understand the laws in your state and the rules for child support collection and enforcement that apply to your particular situation.

Who Pays for College?

The ever-increasing cost of a college education could be added to death and taxes as one of life’s certainties. Whether you are paying or receiving child support, one question that might not yet be resolved is which one of you will be required to pay for your child’s college education.

The answer to that question depends on a variety of factors including where you live, how much income you earn, the college your child attends, and what your divorce agreement or decree says. As a divorced parent, if you are looking at tuition bills sometime in the future, you should consult with an experienced family law attorney to find out what the most likely outcome will be in your particular situation. Anticipating college expenses today will help you plan for them and your child’s future.

Deadbeat Dads and Moms

The nation has turned its attention to the issue of unpaid child support. Every state has a Child Support Enforcement agency or office. Those state agencies are supported by the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE). The OCSE helps administer federal child support legislation and provides tools and funding to the various state enforcement agencies. Yet every report about unpaid support, single parent poverty and prosperous debtor parents is countered by stories of draconian support awards, inaccurate statistics and unfair arrests.

Whether you pay or are owed child support, it is important to understand what makes someone a deadbeat in the child support world.

Not Mine: DNA, Divorce and the Disestablishment of Paternity

In the past, suspicion about the paternity of children born during the course of a marriage remained just that, a suspicion. There was no concrete way to answer any lingering doubts. However, since the advent of relatively inexpensive DNA testing, doubts about paternity can be resolved easily and conclusively. The wide-spread availability of these tests has created a whole new set of problems for families and courts trying to set fair child support orders. Courts and legislators must now sort out who is and isn’t biologically related to the children before assigning ongoing financial child support responsibilities. Making the decision to test for paternity raises difficult questions about timeliness, fraud, morality and the best interests of children and society. So far, there is not a clear answer to these questions.

Child Support and Taxes

Taxes can be reduced by allowed deductions and exemptions. Deductions reduce the amount of taxable income and exemptions reduce the adjusted gross income, such as standard withholding or dependency exemptions. If you pay child support or receive it, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a strict set of rules in place to control the deductions and exemptions that you are allowed because of the payment or receipt of child support. Often, the terms of your divorce decree and related agreements will control the extent to which any tax offsets are available. For that reason, it is very important to consult an experienced family law attorney regarding the long term tax implications of the child support arrangements reached in your case.