As a parent who owes child support, you likely have stress related to these obligations. Some parents face unexpected hardships that make it difficult to stay current, and falling behind on child support can lead to severe penalties. It is crucial to do everything you can to make paying child support less stressful, such as reviewing various payment options.
Even though a lot of parents have child support taken directly from their paycheck by the company they work for, finding another payment method could become necessary if you lose your job or make a living as a self-employed worker.
Paying child support electronically
The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services goes over how you can pay child support electronically. For example, you can pay online with your credit card, bank account or PayPal account. If you pay child support with PayPal or your credit card, you will have to pay a 2.95% transaction fee (on top of your child support payment).
Other child support payment methods
Aside from paying online, you can also send a payment to the state through postal mail. When mailing a payment, make sure you write the address correctly and include various details, such as your Social Security number, the case number and the Illinois court that entered the order. You can also pay support over the phone, although this method can take seven days to process and incurs a processing fee.
It is important to look at different child support payment methods, fees and processing times in order to make it easier to stay caught up and pay on time.
