As of October 1, 1999, Illinois was forced to fragment the processing of child support/maintenance payments to comply with Federal Law.

PAYER: Person responsible for making payments

If the court has ordered your payments to be deducted from your wages, the payment will be sent to the State Disbursement Unit in Carol Stream, IL (SDU) by your employer. The SDU will process and remit the payment to the custodial parent/recipient.

If your former partner has previously received, or is currently, receiving Title IV-D services from the Illinois Department of Public Aid (IDPA) your payments must also be sent to the State Disbursement Unit for processing. The SDU is required by State law to provide you and your employer with written notice advising you of the payment procedures to be followed.

If your court order directs you to make payments through the office of the Circuit Clerk you should be aware of the following:

All payments ordered to be made through the Circuit Clerk's office must be in the form of cash, money order, or personal check. Money orders and checks must be made payable to McLean County Circuit Clerk. We do not recommend sending cash through the mail, and we will not be responsible for cash payments claimed to have been sent to the office via the mail. Cash payments may be made in person during our regular hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The case number you want the payment applied to must be printed on the face of the check or money order. The case number appears on the Judgment or Court Order establishing the payment amount/schedule. If the payor makes payments to more than one person or former spouse through the Clerk's office, please be very careful to put the correct case number on the correct payment.

Payors are encouraged to retain cancelled checks, money order receipts, and payroll stubs reflecting employer withholding for your own records to assist with any discrepancies or questions that may arise.

Payors can obtain pre-addressed envelopes from the Circuit Clerk's office to be used in making payments if the payor so desires. Requests for additional envelopes may be sent with your payment to us and we will provide these to you for your convenience.

The Circuit Clerk will refuse to accept future payments by personal check upon receipt of a non-sufficient fund check or any other type of check that your bank refuses to honor. All future payments will be required by money order or cash. The Circuit Clerk will pursue criminal prosecution against anyone failing to make good upon a bad check.

Should circumstances change which would require your payments to be made through the State Disbursement Unit located in Carol Stream, IL, a Notice will be sent to you by that agency.

It is essential you advise this office of all address changes.
Regardless of whether payments are made to the SDU or directly to the Circuit Clerk, the Circuit Clerk will maintain a payment history. The Circuit Clerk will post payments processed by the SDU based upon information provided to the Circuit Clerk by the SDU.

A statutorily required $36.00 child support/maintenance fee must be paid in January of each year. This fee is pro-rated at the rate of $3.00 per month the first year. Billing statements for this fee are sent for the full amount at the start of each year and are due at the time the statement is sent. This fee must be paid in a check/money order separate from your maintenance/support payment.

All payors of support/maintenance are responsible for paying the $36.00 annual fee referenced above. This fee must be paid directly to the Circuit Clerk even if other payments are made to the SDU. Annual billings will be sent in January. Payment in full is due upon receipt of the billing notice. Delinquent accounts are referred for collection.