Far too often, parents who owe child support will do anything they can to avoid making payments for their children’s necessities. Frequently, this means multiple trips to court and tense hearings before a judge. In some cases, judges will hold parents who refuse to make child support payments in contempt of court and order them to spend time in jail. In the most extreme cases, parents will flee the country because they think it is might be a way to avoid meeting their child support obligations. Fleeing the country does not release you of a court order to pay child support, but it does make the process of collecting payments more difficult.

How to Get Child Support from an Ex Who Moves to Another Country

Obviously, there first needs to be a valid child support order from an Illinois judge before you can make any claim that you are entitled to child support. If the child was born during the marriage, child support is usually set forth as part of the divorce agreement. If the child was not born during a marriage, a hearing may be necessary to establish paternity. If a parent leaves the country before a hearing can be held, he or she may be ordered to pay child support by default.

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Under Illinois law, pets are technically considered property, but any dog or cat owner knows that pets are really more like family members. Because of the fondness that many people have for their animals, it is unsurprising that pet custody becomes a contentious issue in many divorce cases, but it was actually just recently that Illinois courts determined whether divorced spouses have rights to pet visitation the same as they do with children.

Divorce Court Goes to the Dogs

In Re Marriage of Enders was one of the final cases to come out of the First District of the Illinois Court of Appeals in 2015. In the case, the wife filed the initial petition for divorce following 10 years of marriage, during which the couple acquired two dogs. While separated, the wife kept the dogs at her home because the husband was not allowed to keep pets at his apartment. He believed, however, that they would have joint custody of the canines and claimed that his landlord would allow the dogs to visit for short periods of time. After alleging that his ex-wife was denying him any contact with the dogs, he filed a petition for temporary weekend visitation, which was granted by the trial court. The wife appealed.

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In the weeks following the initial divorce filing, the parties will exchange information about their assets and income to determine how marital property is to be distributed and whether either side is entitled to spousal maintenance. If the couple had children, a temporary custody agreement might also be entered into at this point. Often, many disputes about property and child custody can be settled by negotiation, but if a case becomes especially contested, either party may decide that they need to take depositions to pursue their case.

What Is a Deposition?

A deposition is testimony taken under oath, and your appearance is required if you receive notice that you are to be deposed. A court reporter creates a transcript of the deposition, but depositions are usually taken at an attorney’s office with no judge is present. Attorneys for both sides may ask questions during the deposition about the disputed issues relating to the divorce, or object to irrelevant questions. The general purpose of depositions in a divorce proceeding to uncover information of which the party taking the deposition was previously unaware. Anything said at the deposition may later be admitted into evidence before the court.

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A college education is virtually a requirement for a successful career in the twenty-first century, and a divorce does not excuse parents from making every effort to ensure their children receive quality higher education. Illinois law has long provided courts with the authority to require both parents to contribute to the post-secondary educational expenses of their children, and amendments to Section 513 of the newly overhauled Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act outline even more clearly how divorced parents may be ordered to do so.

How and When Divorced Parents Pay for College The first thing the new law on college expenses clarifies is how long parents may be required to contribute to college expenses, previously a point of contention in many cases. The IMDMA now requires parents, when subject to such an order, to contribute to educational expenses until their child’s twenty-third birthday unless “good cause” can be shown otherwise. The law does not define exactly what “good cause” means in this context, but also goes on to clarify that there is absolutely no obligation to provide for educational expenses under any circumstances once the child turns 25.

Other new parts of the law also allow for the early termination of the parent’s responsibility to contribute toward college expenses. As one might expect, there is no requirement to keep paying for college expenses once the child has completed a bachelor’s degree, but the law now also terminates the obligation of the parents if the child marries while still in school. In addition, Section 513(g) also requires students to maintain a “C” average for their parents to contribute toward their schooling expenses, though this requirement may be waived in cases of serious illness or other showing of good cause.

How Much Is Reasonable?

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April 15 is just around the corner, and that means that it is almost time for everyone’s least favorite day of the year: tax day. While many people think that filing taxes is just a matter of reporting the income they earned from their job last year, income taxes can actually become quite a bit more complicated than that, especially if you have been ordered to pay, or are receiving spousal support.

Spousal Maintenance is Considered Income by the IRS

The IRS always considers spousal maintenance received to be income that must be reported when filing taxes. Any person receiving spousal maintenance must also provide their Social Security number to their former spouse as those who pay spousal support may count their payments as a deduction. The IRS uses Social Security numbers to determine who is eligible for the deduction and who must report spousal maintenance as income. Failing to include this information on a tax return may result in a $50 fine.

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