I live in Illinois and want to know how the court orders and determines child support when the father works under the table and there is no paper trail of his income. He is currently paying $100 weekly for his daughter but it is not court ordered and he wants nothing to do with a court order, however he is not always consistent and goes 2 months at a time without paying. I know generally what he makes but without verification of his income ( he pays no taxes), how would the court decide what is fair? Should I make an attempt to document him working?

You need to discuss this with your attorney. If he is truly hiding his income there are ways to determine it. For example, how is he paying for housing? But, if he is truly hiding income from the IRS, then opening this can of worms could land him in jail. That would cut off any support.

Since he wants nothing to do with a court order (I wouldn't if I were him), that gives you leverage. If you do have an idea of what his income is you can demand a specific amount (try to be fair like 15-20%). Tell him if he doesn't keep up the payments, then you will be forced to go to court to formalize the support.

He has no control over whether you take him to court or not.

Yes if you work with an attorney they can though court orders get copies of his bank records, copies of rentall or house payments, car payments, and let him explain where the money comes from.

Also the place he is working, fi they get a court order to tell how much he maks, they have two choices, lie or tell the truth.

Legally, any money that he gives you of his own accord without a court order is worthless. What you can do is ask the court to impute income to him. They will then order a support payment based on this figure. You can suggest a figure that's roughly equal to what he makes working under the table (provided that what he earns is typical for the type of work he does.) Of course, the court may want documentation of his income and may require him to file a yearly tax return. Anther issue that may come up is what exactly does he do under the table? Is it anything illegal?

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Originally Posted by jaded65

I live in Illinois and want to know how the court orders and determines child support when the father works under the table and there is no paper trail of his income. He is currently paying $100 weekly for his daughter but it is not court ordered and he wants nothing to do with a court order, however he is not always consistent and goes 2 months at a time without paying. I know generally what he makes but without verification of his income ( he pays no taxes), how would the court decide what is fair? Should I make an attempt to document him working?

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These are always difficult cases. Do some research: find out where he works, take pictures of his vehicles, house and note what trips he takes. His lifestyle will speak to his true income. You must be your own investigator and then retain legal counsel and ask the Court to modify his support based on your evidence of his lifestyle. Perhaps your lawyer can depose those who work for and with him to ascertain his true income. Good luck.

You can file in court for child support, and the court will determine the amount he must pay.

You can get the court to help you by subponea,for him to produce rent receipts, bank statements, and etc to verify his income, even to produce income tax returns.

Use the court that is what they are there for, not for your personally, but for your child.