Child support payments made towards a legally-binding child support order typically are handled by the Illinois State's Disbursement Unit (SDU). This state agency processes child support payments made by one parent, and then distributes that payment to the other parent.
In this article, we discuss how you can check your child support balance. Your child support balance contains information on how much child support a parent owes, as well as a history of all child support payments a parent has made.
What Do I Need In Order to Check My Child Support Balance?
In order to check your child support balance, you must be listed on a legally-binding child support order. This could be a child support order issued by a judge in court, or one that's issued by the Department of Family Services.
Additionally, you will need to have both a Social Security Number (SSN), as well as your Personal Identification Number (PIN) of your Illinois State's Disbursement Unit (SDU) account.
If you are involved in a child support case, you should have been received a letter in the mail with your PIN. However, if you do not know what your PIN is, you can call the SDU Customer Service line at (877)-225-7077 to obtain your PIN.
How To Check Your Balance
Once you have your PIN, you can call the SDU Customer Service line at (877)-225-7077 to check your child support balance. This can be done through their Automated Voice Response System, or by speaking to a customer service agent.
Similarly, you can also call the Customer Service to request a history of all child support payments made throughout your child support case. You can only request up information by fax on up to five payments made in the last year through their Automated Voce Response System. Alternatively, you can speak to a customer service agent to have your entire payment history mailed to you.
Note that both the parent paying child support and the parent receiving child support have the right to check their child support balance.
Why Would I Need To Check My Balance?
There are many ways knowing your child support balance can be useful. Firstly, if a parent has ever failed to make a child support payment on time, it can be helpful to know how much past-due child support that parent owes.
Furthermore, there may be certain situations where it's helpful to know whether child support is owed to the child's other parent, or to the state of Illinois. For more information, read "Child Support Owed to a Parent vs. the State"
Lastly, checking your child support balance could potentially help a parent identify whether they owe an incorrect amount in child support. If a parent finds is an error in the amount of child support owed, they will need to request copies of all child support payments made in the case from the SDU. This payment history can then be used to conduct a child support accounting review to identify possible errors.
