Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois
Back Child Support after 12 yrs
I found out I have 12yr old son who lives in Michigan. The mother was a college classmate who called me 2 weeks before she had the child and said she didn't want anything from me just wanted me to know. I did not pursue it to verify yes or no but did not hear from her since that phone call as well. The son recently tried to contact me and in turn I contacted his mother to advise what was going on. Her and I are on pleasant terms now and any support going forward will be worked out but does she have the right to pursue back child support. Does living in a different state have any impact. If she does have the right how is back child support calculated
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Back Child Support after 12 yrs
I'll answer your question as if the child were in Illinois, but if the mother and son live in MI that's where any potential case would need to start and I don't know Michigan law.
In IL in paternity cases (unmarried parents), retroactive support IS possible and the statute talks about whether or not the father knew or should have known about a pregnancy back when the child was born in making the retroactive decision. Although generally it seems our courts really favor support collection my experience with retroactive cases is that more often than not the person seeking retroactive support loses...of course I'm generalizing.
If I were you I'd do your best to keep things amicable and offer to pay some support now if that's what the mother wants to keep things out of a court setting.
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