Family Law Committee Update
The Family Law Committee of the Chicago Council of Lawyers and Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice have been participating in a project to improve the process of enforcing spousal maintenance (formerly known as alimony) orders in Illinois. The Illinois State Disbursement Unit (“SDU”) collects and disburses all payments of child support that are made pursuant to Income Withholding Notices (“IWN”) served on the payor’s employer. However, the SDU will not process payments of spousal support that do not include a child support obligation (“maintenance-only orders”). This is because the SDU contracts with the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services (“HFS”), the agency in Illinois tasked with administering the Title IV-D child support program, and maintenance is not within the scope of HFS duties.
Consistent with Title IV-D and its regulations, Illinois law mandates that all payments received by way of Income Withholding Notices (including orders for child support and maintenance) be processed through the SDU. However, payees with a maintenance-only order cannot enforce their orders by serving an Income Withholding Notice on the payor’s employer because the IWN requires that the payment be sent to the SDU and the SDU will not accept payments of maintenance only since maintenance is not within the purview of HFS.
It is generally advisable to have support payments paid through income-withholding and the State Disbursement Unit because it is more efficient and there is less likelihood of missed payments than when the payor makes the payments personally. Currently, the process for enforcing maintenance-only orders requires the filing of a petition in court, which typically requires an attorney, consumes court resources and can be a lengthy process. Additionally, the record-keeping is reliable and may be obtained without estranged former partners having to cooperate. The income-withholding systems in place in California and New York accept maintenance-only orders, demonstrating that process can work in populous states.
Attorneys on our Family Law Committee have been working with attorneys at the Chicago Bar Association and Illinois State Bar Association to draft legislation that will resolve the conflict between the Federal and State laws. Our goal is to provide for the SDU to process and disburse maintenance only orders, so that employers can be served with Income Withholding Notices that provide for payments to the SDU. Making income-withholding available to all persons entitled to court-ordered support creates a more equitable system and can help alleviate poverty.