In most cases, child support ends when a child turns 18. If the young adult is still in high school at this birthday, support for him or her may continue until he or she graduates or reaches the age of 19. In some cases, a parent may be required to help pay for some of his or her grown child's college expenses. But what about a child support and special needs situation?

If you are a parent of a child with special needs, you might have wondered what will happen to your child support agreement once he or she reaches adulthood.

Legal Requirements for Child Support

The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act addresses the requirements for parents to pay child support for minor children and adult children with special needs. It outlines the factors the court may use to determine a divorcing couple's child support agreement.

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When a couple with children divorces, child custody and child support are often two of the most important issues that the couple has to work out. The court tries its best to work with parents to create a custody arrangement that meets every family member's needs. Under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, the court may make the final decision regarding a child's custody arrangement following his or her parents' divorce. There are various guidelines that the court follows when making this decision. These outlines are also part of the Act.

It is important that a child have contact with both of his or her parents following their divorce. In fact, unless there is a compelling reason to award one parent sole custody of the children, the court usually makes sure that both parents have regular custody time with their children. A child's parents are his or her biggest influences. Studies have shown that children who have consistent, positive relationships with both of their parents have higher self esteem, better communication skills, and a lower chance of becoming addicted to alcohol and other drugs.

Factors to Consider When Developing a Custody Arrangement

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In a surprising move, the Illinois Supreme Court has decided it will hear a case involving a property dispute between former same-sex domestic partners. The surprise of this decision by the court comes in light of the 1979 Hewitt v. Hewitt decision. The state Supreme Court decided then that the courts should not decide property disputes between unmarried couples. However, with an increasing number of same-sex domestic partnerships (and in turn separation proceedings), the court is willing to evaluate if those same policy concerns apply to same-sex domestic partnerships and divorce now.

Current Case in Front of the Supreme Court

The case is Blumenthal v. Brewer, and involves a same sex couple who became domestic partners in 1982. They have three children, whom they have cross-adopted, and they officially registered as domestic partners in 2003. The parties separated in 2008. One party is a physician and the other a judge. The plaintiff (the physician) wants to partition the home she shared with her partner and the defendant (the judge) counter-sued for a trust over the home and doctor’s earnings. The plaintiff successfully argued in lower court that Illinois law does not recognize property claims between unmarried domestic partners courtesy of the Hewitt decision.

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In 2012 Illinois updated its divorce statutes to accommodate service men and women who were deployed overseas but were involved in a child custody battle. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act is the statutory body of law in the state that governs divorce and related issues such as child custody. The Act made several key changes to account for parents who are active duty military. The following key provisions were enacted into law:

1. Any order modifying custody (either in part or in its entirety) due to the one parent’s deployment as a member of the United States Armed Forces must now also provide that after a set amount of time following the end of the deployment, the pre-deployment custody order is to be reinstated;
2. Custody hearings are allowed involving a parent who is being deployed or received orders to deploy to be given expedited priority;
3. Service members may testify or participate in the hearing via telephone or other electronic means such as Skype if they are in fact deployed;
4. The deployed parent may designate an individual (with the court’s permission) to exercise the visitation rights the deployed parent has under the existing custody order; and
5. The fact a parent is absent, relocated, or fails to comply to due deployment may not act as the sole grounds for justifying a modification of an existing custody order.

The purpose of these changes was to make the process of custody arrangements more fair and cognizant of the challenges faced by parents who serve in the armed forces. It helps protect a military parent’s custodial rights while deployed and upon return from deployment.

Consideration of the Best Interest of the Child

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If you are entering a high asset divorce, there are several more facets to the proceedings than a person facing an average divorce will need to deal with. These are not only limited to the separation of more possessions. If you have children with your soon-to-be-ex spouse, of course, there is yet another layer of complications. If you are facing a high asset divorce, the most important step is to seek the counsel of an attorney familiar with high asset proceedings.

If your children are young, one such matter to resolve could be paying a nanny. If children are older, common issues in a high asset divorce could include private or boarding school tuition. Ideally divorcing couples will divide who must pay for what. The agreement, of course, will not be legally binding until ruled upon by a judge or until such clauses are signed upon in a divorce decree, but coming to the conclusion amicably can help ensure that it is followed after the divorce is finalized.

Many high asset couples own a business together or have high stakes in a business venture. If you suspect that you may be headed for divorce and this is your situation, yet you do not have the proper paperwork in place to protect your business interests, it is imperative to do so immediately. Preliminary agreements such as prenuptial agreements can help business owners to avoid costly legal battles later. A protracted battle over business interests during divorce can ruin a business, no matter how solvent it was before the divorce. Business contracts that could be of grave importance to divorcing business owners include those which describe how interests would be sold and bought in the event of marital dissolution. Another type of business contract of worth to married couples who own a business is a shareholder agreement.

If you or someone you know is considering a divorce in DuPage County and have high asset needs or considerations to make, contact an experienced Wheaton divorce attorney. The importance of seeking legal counsel cannot be overstated.