Many children in the Peoria area have special medical and educational needs. Any one of these needs, from asthma to a profound physical disability, can cost parents a lot in terms of both time and money.

In addition to medical and other bills, parents may also have to incur extra costs finding opportunities and activities for that their special needs children can enjoy.

An Illinois court can consider these expenses in its child support calculations. This makes sense because, really, both parents should contribute to the support of their children’s needs. Doing so would include paying extra for doctor’s visits, other appoints and the like.

However, courts in Illinois will not automatically account for these expenses. Instead, as a rule, they will apply the Illinois Child Support Guidelines, which do not take in to account special needs automatically. In order to get this consideration, a parent of a special needs child will have to ask for a deviation from the Guidelines.

Getting a deviation from the Guidelines can be a complicated affair. For one, under the law, judges must always use the Guidelines as a starting point and need to have evidence before ordering a different amount of child support.

In order to get a deviation, a parent will need to present evidence that her child requires extra medical care for the child’s health. In other words, the care cannot be medically optional. Likewise, a parent may also present documentation of her child’s special needs when it comes to arguing for extra support to cover things like ongoing therapy or special activities.

Presenting this sort of evidence and doing so persuasively is not an easy task. This is why a Peoria parent may wish to consult with an experiencing attorney before trying to get extra child support because his child has special needs.