Surviving Illinois Child Support
By Arthur S. Kallow
Law Offices of Jeffery M. Leving, Ltd. (http://dadsrights.com)

We all know about the Illinois statutory minimum child support guidelines - 20% of net pay for one child, 28% for two, 32% for three, and so forth. This is the law in Illinois.

But what many don’t know is that those minimum guideline amounts are not etched in stone. There may be ways for you to avoid being ordered to pay those amounts. In the right case, the right lawyer might be able to persuade a judge to enter an order for support that is below, maybe even substantially below, the Illinois statutory minimum guidelines.

Here are a few tips:

1. Make sure that “net income” is properly determined.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Forget the politics of the so-called war on women. When it comes to their careers anyway, women seem to be winning.

Two stories Monday highlight women's rise in the workplace. CNNMoney is the latest news outlet to discover that more men are staying home to take care of their children. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal on Monday asserts that "More Women Are Primed to Land CEO Roles."

In the CNN story, reporter Jessica Dickler writes that "a growing number of dads... are staying home with the kids." The story cites statistics from the Census showing that 32 percent of fathers with a wife in the workforce took care of their children at least one day a week in 2010, an increase from 26 percent in 2002.

Article here. Excerpt:

'It’s official: Senate Democrats will soon hold a vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would update and strengthen the Equal Pay Act of 1963, a senior Democratic Senate aide confirms to me.
...
The vote means this will likely be the next major battle in the war over women, and it could put Mitt Romney in a delicate political spot. It will force a choice: Either he supports the measure, which would put him at odds with the Senate GOP caucus (which voted against the bill two years ago), or he opposes it, which would put Romney at odds with his own rhetorical support for equal pay for women, potentially damaging him further among crucial female swing voters.
...
This Act would put more pressure on employers to prove that differences in wages are not rooted in gender difference, and would make it easier for employees to divulge information about their salaries, which would in turn facilitate deterring or challenging pay discrimination.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'The pending creation of the men-only space is the source of much discussion at Simon Fraser University. Since the news broke in April, many students have questioned whether the men deserve funding. Along with that, a debate has emerged over whether women—who make up 55 per cent of undergraduate students at SFU—still need their own women-only space.
...
The website lists support for the idea of a “male allies project” that would “bring self-identified men together to talk about masculinity and its harmful effects.” Masculinity, it says, “denigrates women by making them into sexual objects, is homophobic, encourages violence, and discourages emotional expression.”

Those are the very stereotypes Midgley says the men’s centre’s users might discuss.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'DENVER — Rob Manzanares has only seen his daughter once in four and a half years but that hasn’t stopped him from battling courts in Utah and Colorado to get custody of his child.

A judge in Denver Friday decided to allow him visitation rights going forward, something he calls a victory for all ‘dads’ like him who are being denied custodial rights to their children.

The situation usually happens when the birth mother and father are not married. In many states, fathers have to sign up with a state registry to assert their rights.

In Utah, experts say the laws are much more in favor of the birth mother, which is why fathers often lose custody rights when courts in that state get involved.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'Oketch is among a group of women in Nairobi who are leading an initiative aimed at urging men to get circumcised.

The women comprising of public health officials, surgeons, counselors and ordinary persons, have decided to take the HIV/Aids battle to men, who are crucial in prevention of the disease.

“They are our partners and sons. We are calling them to get circumcised so that they can protect us from HIV, cervical cancer and other sexually transmitted infections (STI),” she said.

Research indicates that male circumcision reduces a man’s chances of becoming infected with HIV and other STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infection) through sex by up to 60 percent.

It also reduces the risk of transmitting Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) and in women chances of getting cervical cancer, which is spread by HPV.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'For those of you who missed it, on New Year's Eve, Mirkarimi and his wife, Eliana Lopez, got in a fight. He grabbed her arm and bruised it. Lopez complained to a neighbor, who videotaped her. Days later, the neighbor contacted police.

Article here. Excerpt:

'Detroit — A Wayne State University student is being charged with filing a false police report after she claimed she was sexually assaulted on campus.

As required by law, school officials issued a campus notice Wednesday about the reported sexual assault in a parking lot south of the Matthaei Building.

But after reviewing video surveillance and noting inconsistencies in her story, police again questioned the woman. She signed a statement admitting her story was false, police said.'

Article here.

The senate voted on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) yesterday. Sen. Leahy's version passed with 68 votes for and 31 against. Now it moves to the House.

Please do not get disheartened. Look at the bright side: 31 senators were brave enough to vote no. Imagine how difficult that was in this election year.

We need to thank these senators, especially Sen. Grassley for providing a substitute amendment, and we need to do it right now.

Sen. Grassley:
(202) 224-3744
http://www.grassley.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Find out if your senators voted no:

Article here. Excerpt:

'It’s down to the wire. The senate is expected to vote on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) very soon. Vice President Biden recalled recently that when VAWA was first passed, opponents warned that it would be misused in divorce. They were right.

One in six Americans know someone who has been falsely accused of domestic violence. The “silver bullet” in divorce, false allegations are sometimes used to obtain child custody. This despicable act removes fit and loving parents from the lives of their children.

Please take a moment as soon as possible, and speak out for the millions of children who are missing a falsely accused parent. And do it for the parents who are grieving for their children, stolen with a lie.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'(RTTNews) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had a three-word response when asked by Senate reporters on Thursday what the Secret Service could do to avoid more prostitution scandals: "Hire more women."

Reid aligned himself with critics who say the agency needs to diversify its workforce to prevent future recurrences of the recent scandal in Colombia. Several agents were discovered to have consorted with prostitutes, including at a hotel in Cartagena just days before President Obama arrived, and about a dozen agents have been dismissed from the agency in recent days as the inquiry has progressed.

Female congresswomen such as Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) have openly questioned why only 11 percent of Secret Service employees are women.

"I can't help, but wonder if there'd been more women as part of that detail if this ever would have happened," Collins said during an appearance on ABC News' "This Week" on Sunday.'

Article here. Excerpt:

'WASHINGTON -- Congressional Democratic leaders have found another venue to hit Republicans for their so-called war on women: the debate over student loan costs.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday slammed Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) for proposing on Wednesday to keep down the costs of student loan interest rates by pulling money from what he called "one of the slush funds in the president's health care law." He was referring to the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which contains billions of dollars aimed at encouraging people to take better care of themselves, thereby saving money down the road.'

Story here. Excerpt:

'TWO young girls made up allegations of rape against an 11-year-old Westhoughton schoolboy, a court heard.

Liverpool Crown Court was told yesterday that the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told police the claims were false.

He is accused of inviting one of the girls to perform a sex act on him — but he claimed the words in question were a sarcastic taunt because she had called him fat.

It is alleged that, while out playing, the boy took her ball and refused to give it back until she had performed a sex act on him.
...
The boy, who is now aged 12, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of raping the girl and one of sexually assaulting her.

He also denies one count of raping the older girl, one of attempting to rape her and one of sexually assaulting her.

The trial continues'

Story here.

'A university student who wasted more than 650 hours of police time after making a false rape allegation has narrowly avoided jail.

20 year old Chloe Jayne Fox of Spencer Street in Carlisle had claimed she'd been attacked in an alleyway in the city centre last September. Magistrates sentenced her to four months imprisonment, suspended for 12-months, and ordered her to do 180 hours of community service.'