The 2016 amendments to Illinois law essentially codify the Petersen case. Thus, the 2016 amendments provide in part, “(k) The establishment of an obligation to pay under this Section is retroactive only to the date of filing a petition. The right to enforce a prior obligation to pay may be enforced either before or after the obligation is incurred.” But the previous case law following Petersen remains critical because the question remains of what is enforcement versus what is establishment. And Illinois case law was well as the statutory amendments have focused on what sorts of grades are presumptively required for a child to reflect an aptitude for the parents to be obligation to contribute to post-high school educational expenses.
