Come on, now. It’s not just mommies. There’s some custodial daddies out there too who spend a couple of hours every week looking for the mail to come to see if the non-custodial parent (the parent without physical custody of the children) has sent the child support that they owe.

If you have a court order stating that your baby’s daddy or mommy owes you a check every week, but have a hard time getting that money, then read on!

These are the child support guidelines in the state of Illinois:

For example, if you have three children and the non-custodial parent makes $1,000 every two weeks, s/he will have to pay $320 to you in child support every two weeks, or $160 every week.

If this money is past-due or rarely is sent, there’s a method by which you can ensure that the child-support is taken directly from his/her paycheck, sent to the State, and then mailed to you. This can only happen, of course, if s/he has a “real job” at a workplace that follows the law!

So, what do you do to enforce the court order that commands s/he pay you child support? You fill out a form provided by the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, called an “Application for Child Support Services” and turn it in (or pick it up) at the Illinois Department of Public Aid office at 32 West Randolph, in Chicago. Their phone number is (312) 793-8392 or (800) 447-4278.

This form can also be found online at the Clerk’s website at: http://198.173.15.31/forms/pdf_files/CCSD0053.pdf.

Once you provide this office with the form, they will take it from there in order that you get the money that’s owed to you! All employers are required to respond appropriately to this request, by removing the portion of the child support amount owed by the non-custodial parent and remitting payment to the State for mailing to the custodial parent.