In most family law cases involving children, child support is one of the most important issues that will need to be addressed. Typically, a child’s custodial parent (the parent who has the majority of the parenting time with the child) will receive child support from the other parent. However, parents may wonder how child support will be handled if they will be dividing parenting time equally. In these cases, additional calculations will usually be necessary to ensure that a child will receive the financial support they need.
Child Support and Shared Physical Care
The state of Illinois uses an “income sharing” method to calculate parents’ child support obligations. Basic child support obligations are determined using a “schedule” that defines an appropriate amount that parents should pay each month based on their combined incomes and the number of children they share. Each parent will be responsible for a percentage of this amount based on the amount they contribute toward the combined income. For example, if one parent earns 55% of the couple’s combined income, they will be responsible for paying 55% of the basic child support obligation.
Cases where parents share equal or near-equal parenting time are known as “shared physical care,” and in these situations, additional calculations are necessary to determine each parent’s child support obligations. Rules for shared physical care apply in any situation where children spend at least 40% of the parenting time with each parent. This works out to 146 days per year in which children stay overnight at one parent’s home.
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