Federal and State law, Social Security Title IV-D and 305 ILCS 5/10, require the administrative law courts in the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) hear petitions to change child support by a non-custodial parent or custodial parent. For a summary of these laws see this link here.
The HFS Child Support Division and their Administrative Law courts have been illegally refusing to hear any non-custodial parent’s request for change in child support for 20 years. They do not even have forms for the non-custodial parent to apply for a hearing before the Administrative Court Law Judge or to request a change in child support! The above codes and statutes require that this be allowed and done. Therefore, their refusal to do their job is being challenged in the courts – see link below.
HFS-CSD directed by Pam Lowery has been refusing to do their job. Non-custodial parents have been illegally forced to pay as much as 110 % of their income for child support and have even been illegally jailed. Even if in arrears a non-custodial parent may not be ordered to pay more than 65 % of his/her income to child support after garnishment for taxes per the federal Consumer Protection Act.
Trial courts lose jurisdiction to hear post-trial requests for change in child support according to these laws and regain it only after the HFS-CSD administrative law court investigates the financial circumstances (with subpoenas to the parents) and holds a hearing before the administrative law judge in their division with the parents present and then makes a recommendation that goes to the Trial Judge. Then the trial judge can rubber-stamp it if the parents agree or hold a trial to determine the appropriate amount of child support if the parents disagree.