The cost of raising a child can be staggering. Even if a parent could only provide their child with the basic necessities the youth needed to survive, they would still need to put a roof over the child’s head, keep clothing on their back and fill their plate with food multiple times each day. However, parents in Illinois do so much more for their kids than the bare minimums and all of those costs and expenses can add up to an enormous sum as their children get older.

When a parent has custodial rights over their child, the child’s non-custodial parent may be required to provide them with child support. Child support is financial support and generally is paid on a monthly basis until the child becomes an adult or is otherwise emancipated from the care of their parents. When a parent provides their child with child support those payments may be used for many different child-rearing purposes.

Child support can be applied to the basic needs of the child, such as those discussed above. However, they may also be used to put the child in special schools, provide the child with necessary medical care and to allow the child to participate in extracurricular activities. Child support may be used to take a child on vacation, to put the child in daycare so that the custodial parent may work or to transport the child from home to school and to other locations.

Child support is necessary so that a child may live their fullest life with the support of both of their parents. Individuals who are struggling to establish support agreements or to have their support orders honored may wish to reach out to family law attorneys for assistance.