The Paternity Court granted mother’s motion to modify child support, for the parties’ one minor child. After hearing, it increased from $100 to $3,000 per month based on father’s financial circumstances and the child’s needs. The Court had denied father’s request for a continuance of the hearing. He had asked for a continuance two days before the hearing. He did not disclose or explain his sudden inability to be in court.
The court found that since it could not determine father’s actual income from the evidence, it was necessary to deviate from the statutory guidelines for determining child support and enter a needs-based order. The statutory guidelines for one child would have been 20% of the father’s net income. The court found mother’s testimony from the original hearing—that she needed $3000 per month to cover the child’s expenses—credible and reasonable. The Court stated that it had no alternative but to enter an award based on that amount because father failed to appear and give testimony
Father continued coming back to court after the hearing took place. He filed motion after motion to lessen the child support and reopen the case. The Court stated that father had repeatedly not responded to discovery requests. The Court also found that father had been defiant toward discovery orders. The Court did not believe that father was a believable person. Any additional evidence from father would have been father’s own word, which the court did not believe.
The court found that father’s actions during the course of the litigation lessened his credibility. It was not possible to determine his actual income from the evidence he had provided. The Court did find that father actually had more money that he claimed he had.
The court explained that the $3000 monthly amount of child support was based on mother’s testimony, as well as a presumed income from TMT Sportz and the bank statements showing that tens of thousands of dollars ran through father’s bank account. The higher child support was retroactively applied from the date that mother had filed her Petition for Increased Child Support.
In re Parentage of I.I., 2016 IL App (1st) 160071, December 23, 2016,
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