Non-payment of Child Support Becomes Campaign Issue in Election

 Posted on November 20, 2012 in Child Support

Non-payment of child support can have far-reaching consequences that a lot of non-custodial parents sometimes fail to think about when they stop making the court-ordered payments. Court ordered civil penalties can be exposed, and in severe cases, even incarceration. In Illinois, some other consequences include driver license or other professional business license suspension, assets seized, withholding of income tax refunds and lottery winnings and derogatory credit rating report. One other consequence that may also arise is public perception and reputation, especially if the person who owes the child support holds political office. The issue of non-payment of child support was one that was raised in the recent election for the U.S. House of Representative for Illinois, 8^th Congressional District seat. Current Rep. Joe Wash was running for re-election against challenger Tammy Duckworth. In September 2011, Walsh’s ex-wife filed motions against him in court for back-child support. According to a report in the Chicago Sun Times, the congressman owed over $100,000 in back support for his three children. The couple finally reached a settlement in April 2012, but no details of the settlement were released. Duckworth raised the issue in the recent campaign, including releasing an ad that referred to Walsh as a “deadbeat dad”, shining a spotlight on the issue that hadn’t been in the media since April. It was a reminder that Walsh had not paid child support for years, claiming to be broke, yet had given his own re-election campaign $35,000. Duckworth received the endorsement of Chicago’s major newspapers and she won the election. Since filing for divorce in 2002, Walsh’s ex-wife had gone to court over and over again seeking the court-ordered child support payments her husband never paid. After years of only making partial payments, he stopped making any payments at all in 2008. If your children’s parent is not making court-ordered child support payments and has fallen in arrears, contact an Illinois family law attorney today.