§ 801 — Child support orders

(a) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, pending the outcome of a judicial determination of parentage, the court shall issue an order for child support upon motion by a party and a showing of clear and convincing evidence of parentage. In determining the amount of the child support award, the court shall use the guidelines and standards set forth in Sections 505 and 505.2 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. (b) Any new or existing support order entered by the court under this Section shall be deemed to be a series of judgments against the person obligated to pay support thereunder, each judgment to be in the amount of each payment or installment of support and each judgment to be deemed entered as of the date the corresponding payment or installment becomes due under the terms of the support order. Each judgment shall have the full force, effect, and attributes of any other judgment of this State, including the ability to be enforced. A judgment under this Section is subject to modification or termination only in accordance with Section 510 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. Notwithstanding any other state or local law to the contrary, a lien arises by operation of law against the real and personal property of the noncustodial parent for each installment of overdue support owed by the noncustodial parent. (c) An order for support, when entered or modified, shall include a provision requiring the non-custodial parent to notify the court and, in cases in which a party is receiving child support enforcement services under Article X of the Illinois Public Aid Code, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, within 7 days: (i) of the name and address of any new employer of the non-custodial parent; (ii) whether the non-custodial parent has access to health insurance coverage through the employer or other group coverage and, if so, of the policy name and number and the names of adults and initials of minors covered under the policy; and (iii) of any new residential or mailing address or telephone number of the non-custodial parent. In any subsequent action to enforce a support order, upon a sufficient showing that a diligent effort has been made to ascertain the location of the non-custodial parent, service of process or provision of notice necessary in the case may be made at the last known address of the non-custodial parent in any manner expressly provided by this Act or the Code of Civil Procedure, and shall be sufficient for purposes of due process. (d) An order for support shall include a date on which the current support obligation terminates. The termination date shall be no earlier than the date on which the child covered by the order will attain the age of 18. However, if the child will not graduate from high school until after attaining the age of 18, then the termination date shall be no earlier than the earlier of the date on which the child's high school graduation will occur or the date on which the child will attain the age of 19. The order for support shall state that the termination date does not apply to any arrearage that may remain unpaid on that date. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prevent the court from modifying the order or terminating the order in the event the child is otherwise emancipated. (e) If there is an unpaid arrearage or delinquency (as those terms are defined in the Income Withholding for Support Act) equal to at least one month's support obligation on the termination date stated in the order for support or, if there is no termination date stated in the order, on the date the child attains the age of majority or is otherwise emancipated, the periodic amount required to be paid for current support of that child immediately prior to that date shall automatically continue to be an obligation, not as current support but as periodic payment toward satisfaction of the unpaid arrearage or delinquency. The periodic payment shall be in addition to any periodic payment previously required for satisfaction of the arrearage or delinquency. The total periodic amount to be paid toward satisfaction of the arrearage or delinquency may be enforced and collected by any method provided by law for the enforcement and collection of child support including, but not limited to, income withholding under the Income Withholding for Support Act. Each order for support entered or modified must contain a statement notifying the parties of the requirements of this subsection. Failure to include the statement in the order for support does not affect the validity of the order or the operation of the provisions of this subsection with regard to the order. This subsection shall not be construed to prevent or affect the establishment or modification of an order for the support of a minor child or the establishment or modification of an order for the support of a non-minor child or educational expenses under Section 513 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. (f) An order entered under this Section shall include a provision requiring the obligor to report to the obligee and to the clerk of the circuit court within 7 days each time the obligor obtains new employment, and each time the obligor's employment is terminated for any reason. The report shall be in writing and shall, in the case of new employment, include the name and address of the new employer. Failure to report new employment or the termination of current employment, if coupled with nonpayment of support for a period in excess of 60 days, is indirect criminal contempt. For an obligor arrested for failure to report new employment, bond shall be set in the amount of the child support that should have been paid during the period of unreported employment. An order entered under this Section shall also include a provision requiring the obligor and obligee parents to advise each other of a change in residence within 5 days of the change except when the court finds that the physical, mental, or emotional health of a party or that of a minor child, or both, would be seriously endangered by disclosure of the party's address.

Legislative History

(Source: P.A. 99-85, eff. 1-1-16 .)