Interstate Child Support Payments Get Complicated

 Posted on December 16, 2012 in Child Support

When Christopher and Angela Isit paid Christopher’s child support to his ex-girlfriend in Mississippi, neither thought anything of it, but complicated interstate laws and deduction processes have made Isit’s payment records a big mess, according to the Chicago Tribune. For most of the time that they were making payments, according to the Tribune, “the payments were automatically deducted from his paycheck,” and then sent to Mississippi and then forwarded to Isit’s ex-girlfriend. In 2009, Mississippi told Isit that he was $900 behind on support payments, and because “a new child support order was issued in Illinois, he began paying extra each week—sometimes as much as an additional $95.” He willingly paid it, and thought nothing of it. Yet two years later he realized that for those two years he had been grossly overpaying his child support, because “the money was bypassing the state of Mississippi,” as Illinois was depositing the money directly into the ex-girlfriend’s account. By July of this year, Mississippi consequently reported that Isit “owed more than $5,100 in child support,” and began “pursuing the alleged shortfall by intercepting his federal tax return.” Illinois has a comprehensive state information program on child support, but especially when parents live in different states, one parent not with the children, child support law can be complicated. This is true whether the parents were ever married or not. Sometimes, as is the case with the Isits, it can be even messier if a certified divorce lawyer never took a close look at the child support proceedings. If you or someone you know has to wade through the murky waters of interstate child support, don’t go through it alone. Contact a dedicated Illinois family law attorney today. Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net