Preparing for your Child Support Hearing without a Lawyer
Every day the Cook County courts are open, child support orders are entered against Chicago parents, many of whom are unable to retain an attorney prior to the child support hearing. If you are one of those parents, this article is for you.
Individuals who represent themselves are expected to know the rules of the court system and follow them. While some judges give leniency to self-represented litigants, many do not. In either case, if you come to your hearing prepared, knowledgeable about the rules, and essentially able to do what an attorney would do for you, you will put yourself in a much better position to get a fair outcome.
Determining Each Parent’s Income for Child Support Calculations
Illinois courts are required to set child support amounts by using an income-sharing formula that factors in both parties’ gross incomes, except in rare occasions where a “deviation” is allowed under the law. The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) maintains a website online where you can run your own child support numbers. It is essential that both parents accurately report their gross incomes to the court and to each other in advance of the hearing.
Sometimes it’s easy to determine each party’s gross income. Sometimes it’s not. It’s easy when the parent is a full-time W2 employee and regularly files their tax returns. It can be difficult when the parent works multiple W2 positions, has seasonal employment, is self-employed, gets paid in cash, works side jobs, or simply reports no income. When you are unable to rely on W2s, paystubs, and tax records, you should also demand production of bank statements. Bank statements provide the most thorough record of someone’s financial transactions.
You should not assume that these documents will be provided to you without you demanding them, legally. There are a few ways to do this. At your first court date, you can request that the other party provide you with a financial affidavit and supporting documents in advance of the hearing. Judges routinely grant this request. You can also issue your own notice to produce as a self-represented party. If you plan on issuing a notice to produce, do it well in advance of your hearing date, since the other parent will get 28 days under the law to provide the documents requested. Lastly, you can issue a subpoena through the Clerk’s office directly to a bank or other third party. You can use the subpoena form provided by Cook County and attach a rider with the specific documents you are requesting.
As you approach your hearing, you are going to need to run your own support calculations. When you do this, use the gross monthly income amounts that you think the court should use when running numbers. You should be prepared to support the numbers you are using with the documents referenced above (i.e., W2s, tax returns and/or bank statements) and your own sound reasoning. If you do not have any of the documents referenced above, you may be able to file a motion to request a continuance of the hearing due to the missing documents, but you should still be prepared to go to hearing if your request for a continuance is denied. If that happens, do your best with what you have and what you know. Use the records you have and what you already know about the other parent to make your best reasoned argument. Did the other parent work when you were together? How much did he/she earn? What was his/her hourly rate or annual salary? If you can come up with a well-supported hourly rate for the other parent, you can figure out the other parent’s earning potential from there. Just perform the following calculation: ($Hourly Rate X 40) X 4.333 = $Gross Monthly Income.
Courts are likely to have a lot of questions if you or other party report no income. When one party who is physically able to work nonetheless reports no income, judges will often “impute” an income to that individual based on their earning potential. If there isn’t a clear history of income, the courts are likely to impute an income based on the individual working full-time at a minimum wage rate. In Chicago (in September of 2025), the monthly full-time minimum wage income is as follows: ($16.60 X 40) X 4.33 = $2,877/mo.). If there is a record of income, you can take the average of the other parent’s last three years of gross annual income to determine their earning potential.
Proving Disability
Most judges will accept a disability finding by the Social Security Administration, the Veterans Administration, or an independent medical evaluation, as a good reason for a parent to be out of work and not earning income through employment. However, not all disabilities completely prohibit an individual’s ability to work and a court still find that a disabled individual is able to earn some form of income.
If you are disabled, you need to be prepared to present your disability finding to the court along with proof of any disability benefits you currently receive. If you do not have a finding from the Social Security Administration or the Veterans Administration, you need to be prepared to present the disability findings in your medical records. You can ask the custodian of records for your medical provider to sign a Certification of Records verifying the accuracy of your medical records. If you have specific medical records indicating that you are unable to work, or specifying your workplace restrictions, be prepared to provide those as well.
Requesting an Adjustment to the Guideline Support Number
At your child support hearing, you can request certain adjustments under the law that are frequently accepted by judges, if there is a proper basis.
The first, and the most common, is if you are currently paying for the minor child(ren)’s health insurance premiums. HFS’ child support calculator has a section where you can insert the amount paid towards monthly premiums. If you are the one paying the premiums through your employment, this amount should be factored into the support calculations and result in a downward adjustment of your final child support obligation. If you are making this request, be prepared to show proof of what you are paying each month towards your monthly premiums. This is usually found on your paystub. You can also contact the HR/Payroll department at your employment to request documents/information about your health insurance plan, including the cost of premiums.
The other commonly used adjustment is the multi-family adjustment. If you have a child(ren) with another individual and you are currently responsible for financially supporting that other child(ren), then you can request a multi-family adjustment to your child support obligation. If you are making this request, be prepared to show proof that you are the biological parent of the other child(ren) (i.e., a birth certificate, voluntary acknowledgment of paternity, or paternity finding), as well as proof that you financially support that other child(ren) (i.e., proof that the child(ren) live with you, or that you are paying child support).
Preparing for Your Hearing
Most child support hearings are short, lasting between 15–30 minutes. Because of that, do not expect to get a lot of time to plead your case. You should plan on having a 3–5 minute prepared argument detailing the gross monthly income you think the court should use for you, the gross monthly income you think the court should use for the other parent, how you calculated these incomes, whether you are requesting any adjustments, whether there are any limitations on your ability to work, and what your child support calculations say the final monthly support amount should be. You should send in your child support worksheet and any exhibits (i.e., proof of income for you and the other parent) you’d like the court to consider in a “Courtesy Copies” email sent to the Judge’s coordinator at least 5 days before the hearing.
Written by Brian Gilbert, Chicago Advocate Legal, NFP Co-Founder and Financial Director.
