Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois

Child support in arrears

Your inquiry raises a number of additional questions which cannot be answered absent a personal consultation with a lawyer. For example, you state you turned your husband in to DCFS because he is behind in child support. DCFS is not the agency of government charged with the primary duty of collecting child support. Accordingly, we wonder how it is that DCFS has undertaken to do this for you.

I cannot surmise why you have been approached for financial information. It may be that the agency seeks to determine whether you have the financial resources to pay your own way in enforcing your ex�s child support obligation. Most people do. Government�s direct involvement in child support enforcement arises primarily in public aid and other low-income cases, or where the amount of support owed is exceptionally high, or where the obligor has demonstrated that he/she is a scofflaw.

Finally, you ask, �What should I do?�

See a lawyer. There are a number of legal avenues to obtain the support you are owed, including but not limited to automatic payroll withholding from your ex�s employer, risk of jail to your ex for a failure or refusal to pay, loss of your ex�s driving privileges, the confiscation of his tax refund checks, the attachment of your ex�s bank accounts or other property, and other recognized measures for the enforcement of judgments. Your lawyer will also advise you regarding your ability to obtain a judgment from your ex to reimburse you for the cost of legal services made necessary by his failure to pay.