New Law Allows Gambling Earnings to Be Taken to Pay Child Support

 Posted on December 03, 2013 in Child Support

Illinois is known throughout the country for being one of the toughest places to recover child support judgments. The difficulties of maneuvering the Illinois court system are legendary, with many parents spending years and countless amounts of money trying to recover back due child support payments with no avail. A new law has been passed though, which provides a viable option for parents to reclaim child support payments. On August 12, 2013, Governor Pat Quinn signed into law a bill that will allow race tracks and casinos to garnish prize money earned at these establishments and allow it to be applied to past due child support payments.

Earlier this year, the state of Illinois reported that over three million dollars of past due child support was owed to local Illinois parents. Illinois is a highly litigious state with an extremely complicated court system that can be daunting to the average citizen. The situation of recovering child support can be even more complicated when the party owing child support is self-employed, a job-hopper and/or resides in a different state. The attempt to recover child support can be an extremely expensive and time consuming process that guarantees no actual payment, even when arrest warrants and judgments are issued against the party owing child support.

Under the law, Illinois gambling locations are required to post signs that alert gamblers to the fact that prize money earned could be garnished for any persons whose name appears in the Department of Healthcare and Family Services system. The earnings are then given to the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, who will then distribute the earnings to the parents owed past due child support. The sponsor of the bill, Dunlap Republican Sen. Darin LaHood, believes that the law will allow for around one million dollars to be recovered within the first year of being enacted.

The Illinois Gambling Law is a big feat for those parents seeking to recoup past due child support. Typically, a judgment can be entered for past due child support, but that is no guarantee that the owing party will be forced to pay, or even has the means to do so. The law takes money that the defendant has recently earned, and gives it directly to the parent of the child who is owed money. Call today to discuss the effects this law will have on your current child support situation with one of our family law attorneys here at Angel Traub and Associates in Arlington Heights, Illinois.