Illinois Statutes Chapter 305. Public Aid § 5/10-2. Extent of Liability

§ 10-2. Extent of Liability. A husband is liable for the support of his wife and a wife for the support of her husband. Unless the child is otherwise emancipated, the parents are severally liable for the support of any child under age 18, and for any child aged 18 who is attending high school, until that child graduates from high school, or attains the age of 19, whichever is earlier. The term “child” includes a child born out of wedlock, or legally adopted child.

The liability for the support of a child provided for in this Article does not require a previous court order for custody and is in conjunction with the guidelines set forth in Section 505 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, as provided for in Section 10-10 of this Article. The obligation to support contained in this Article is concurrent to any other appropriate State law.

This Article does not create, enlarge, abrogate, or diminish parental rights or duties under other laws of this State, including the common law.

An action to establish or enforce a support obligation, under this or any other Act providing for the support of a child, may be brought subsequent to an adjudication dismissing that action based on any of the following reasons: (1) no duty of support exists under this Article because this Article requires a previous court order for custody/allocation of parental responsibilities (as no such requirement exists under this Act); (2) there is no common law duty of support (as a common law duty of support is recognized as a valid basis for child support); or (3) there is no duty of support under the Illinois Parentage Act of 2015 because a judgment of paternity results in a de facto custody/allocation of parental responsibilities order (as this ignores the cumulative nature of the Act and the plain language of the statute permitting an explicit reservation of the issue. The Illinois Parentage Act of 2015 will be clarified regarding a de facto custody/allocation of parental responsibilities order as it relates to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act).

In addition to the primary obligation of support imposed upon responsible relatives, such relatives, if individually or together in any combination they have sufficient income or other resources to support a needy person, in whole or in part, shall be liable for any financial aid extended under this Code to a person for whose support they are responsible, including amounts expended for funeral and burial costs.