As many Illinois fans of the reality TV show “The Bachelor” recently found out, the Bachelor for the new season has a young child whom he seems to love dearly. Many fans may be surprised to find out that he actually owes back child support for his child for the past two years. There is now a court order to automatically deduct the child support payments plus payments towards his delinquent payments from his income until everything is paid off.
The new Bachelor is in the same position as many parents in Illinois. There are many parents who have children and are not married. Any time that happens one parent most likely will be ordered to pay child support to the other. However, things happen throughout the life of a child. People lose jobs or have a medical emergency and are no longer able to pay the court ordered amount. Delinquent payments are not forgiven though. People will still owe the court ordered amount until the child support order is modified.
If a person fails to pay child support, the person receiving the payments may seek to enforce the order through various means such as income deductions and other remedies. The person who is paying the support may also go back to court to have the current order modified. In order to modify a child support order a person must show that there has been a substantial change in the circumstances since the time of the original order. This can be shown through a variety of ways, and a loss of a job could be one of them.
There are many people in Illinois who are in a situation where they are either not receiving child support or are no longer able to pay their court ordered child support. People may be able to go to the court to seek assistance with enforcement or modification of child support orders. Attorneys understand child support laws and may be a helpful resource as people deal with a child support issue.
Source: San Francisco Examiner, “Scoop: ‘Bachelor’ Juan Pablo Galavis owes child support” Katy St. Clair, Jan. 3, 2014