When The Child Support Guidelines Aren't Enough

In Illinois, child support calculations generally begin with a formula. The formula considers each parent's income, the number of children, and the parenting schedule, and produces a resulting figure. In most cases, that figure is appropriate, particularly when considered alongside each parent's relative contribution to the children's direct expenses. But not always.

A recent Illinois appellate decision, In re Marriage of VanDuyne, offers a useful reminder of a principle most parents already sense intuitively: child support exists to reflect the realities of a child's life, not simply to satisfy a mathematical formula.

Divorce often results in two households with markedly different financial circumstances. Whether due to premarital agreements or other factors, one parent may have the income and resources to preserve the lifestyle the children were accustomed to, while the other, despite best efforts, may not have the means to approximate it.

Illinois law recognizes that this disparity is a factor the court may consider. Child support is not intended to render two households identical, nor is it intended to confer a windfall on either parent. It is, however, intended to protect the children, and where appropriate, to help preserve something resembling the life they knew before the divorce.

That was the central question in VanDuyne: was the guideline amount sufficient where one parent could maintain the children's marital standard of living and the other could not? The appellate court held that the trial court was required to examine that disparity more closely before presuming the standard formula adequately addressed it.

The court stated plainly that the guideline amount did not come close to reflecting the standard of living the children would have experienced had the marriage remained intact. The court further cautioned against children spending significant time in a household that is not at least reasonably comparable to the other parent's.

To be clear, this does not mean that any disparity in income between two households warrants additional support. Few divorced parents emerge with identical finances, and some degree of disparity between households is both common and expected.

VanDuyne addresses the more significant disparities — circumstances in which the guideline amount results in children experiencing markedly different qualities of life depending on which parent's home they are in during a given week. In such cases, a court may consider an "upward deviation," meaning an order of support beyond what the standard formula would otherwise produce.

This may occur where the guideline amount fails to meet the children's actual needs, or fails to reflect the life they would have had had the family remained intact. The court's inquiry is not limited to a parent's income; it may also weigh other financial resources, including investments, real estate, business interests, and each parent's broader financial circumstances.

Where one parent is able to maintain the children's marital standard of living and the other genuinely is not without additional support, that circumstance warrants closer judicial scrutiny — not to penalize one parent or reward the other, but to keep the focus where it belongs: on the children, their needs, and the life they would have had absent the divorce.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.