Section 160.89 Interest

Section 160.89  Interest

a)         Interest Established and Enforced with the

Assistance of the Department

1)         Unadjudicated Interest

A)        Unadjudicated interest is interest that has

not been reduced to a judgment by a court for judicial cases or the Department

for administrative cases.  A non-assistance custodial parent is an individual

who completes an application for IV-D services (see Sections 160.5 and 160.10).

B)        Effective January 1, 2021, the Department

will provide a custodial parent, on a one-time basis, the opportunity to

establish unadjudicated interest through the Department.

The Department will accept one-time written requests

from a custodial parent for both judicial cases and administrative cases.  The

Department will establish unadjudicated interest when the custodial parent

makes a written request and meets all of

the

following criteria:

i)          The emancipation of the youngest child on

the case for which the custodial parent is requesting interest;

ii)         The principal balance for current support

is $0.00 on the case for which the custodial parent is requesting interest;

iii)        The minimum amount of interest due to the

custodial parent on that case is $500; and

iv)        The written request must be received by the

Department within one year after meeting the criteria of this subsection

(a)(1)(B) or, if applying for IV-D services, after the emancipation of the

child, within one year after applying for IV-D services, provided that they

meet the required criteria.

C)        Effective January 1, 2021, interest on cases

meeting the criteria of subsection (a)(1)(B) shall be calculated prospectively

from the last judgment entered and contained in the Department's certified

computer system or, if no judgment was entered, from the charges and payments,

or balances, reflected and contained in the Department's certified computer

system.

2)         Adjudicated Interest

Effective January 1, 2021, interest on cases

meeting the criteria of subsection (a)(1)(B) shall be calculated prospectively

from the last judgment entered and contained in the Department's certified

computer system or, if no judgment was entered, from the charges and payments,

or balances, reflected and contained in the Department's certified computer

system.

2)         Adjudicated Interest.  Effective January 1,

2021, the Department will enforce adjudicated interest orders obtained by the

custodial parent, non-custodial parent or either the custodial parent's or the

non-custodial parent's attorney.

3)         As part of an arrearage establishment

process under this Section, the Department shall calculate interest on child

support judgments, including judgments arising by operation of law from child

support orders, by applying one‑twelfth of the current statutory interest

rate as provided in Section 2-1303 of the Code of Civil Procedure [735 ILCS 5] to

the unpaid child support balance as of the end of each calendar month.  The

unpaid child support balance at the end of the month is the total amount of

child support ordered, excluding the child support that was due for that month

to the extent that it was not paid in that month and including judgments for

retroactive child support, less all payments received and applied as set forth

in this Section.  Effective January 1, 2021, the total unpaid child support

balance shall be maintained and reflected in the Department's certified

computer system.  This balance shall be presumed to be correct and shall be the

basis for the calculation of interest provided for in this Section.  If an

individual wishes to challenge this presumption, the individual must prove, to

the appropriate tribunal (judicial for judicial cases and administrative for

administrative cases), that the balance is incorrect by a preponderance of the

evidence

puter system.  This balance shall be presumed to be correct and shall be the

basis for the calculation of interest provided for in this Section.  If an

individual wishes to challenge this presumption, the individual must prove, to

the appropriate tribunal (judicial for judicial cases and administrative for

administrative cases), that the balance is incorrect by a preponderance of the

evidence.

b)         The accrued interest shall not be included

in the unpaid child support balance when calculating interest at the end of the

month.

c)         The unpaid child support balance as of the

end of each month shall be determined by calculating the current monthly child

support obligation and applying all payments received for that month, except

federal income tax refund intercepts, first to the current monthly child

support obligation and then applying any payments in excess of the current

monthly child support obligation to the unpaid child support balance owed from

previous months.  The current monthly child support obligation shall be

determined from the document that established the support obligation.

d)         Federal income tax refund intercepts and

any payments in excess of the current monthly child support obligation shall be

applied to the unpaid child support balance.  Interest on child support

obligations may be collected by any means available under federal and State

laws, rules and regulations providing for the collection of child support.  Effective

January 1, 2021, any payments in excess of the current monthly child support

obligation and the unpaid child support balance shall be applied to the adjudicated

accrued interest on the unpaid child support balance entered by the court for judicial

cases or the accrued interest entered by the Department for administrative

cases

ulations providing for the collection of child support.  Effective

January 1, 2021, any payments in excess of the current monthly child support

obligation and the unpaid child support balance shall be applied to the adjudicated

accrued interest on the unpaid child support balance entered by the court for judicial

cases or the accrued interest entered by the Department for administrative

cases.

e)         The provisions of this Section shall also

apply to calculation of interest on maintenance and unallocated maintenance and

child support judgments arising by operation of law from maintenance and

unallocated maintenance and child support orders.

f)         Effective January 1, 2021, for

non-assistance cases meeting the criteria in this Section, the custodial parent

may request that the Department calculate and enforce interest during the

arrearage establishment process.  If no such request is made, or if the request

is not made within the time period required by this Section, the custodial

parent, through the courts, may enforce any accrued interest, without the

involvement of the Department.  If the custodial parent requests interest after

the emancipation of the youngest child and after the principal balance for

current support is zero, but does not meet the remainder of the criteria provided

for in this Section, the Department will not calculate interest, but instead

may provide the custodial parent with a copy of the Department's interest

finding and a cover letter explaining the Department's policy regarding

interest and informing the custodial parent of the option to seek legal advice.

In cases in which there is an assignment of support to the State, the

Department may calculate and enforce interest.