Babcock v. Martinez

              NO. 4-05-0662 Filed: 10/23/06
IN THE APPELLATE COURT
OF ILLINOIS
FOURTH DISTRICT
LINDA BABCOCK,
Petitioner-Appellee and Cross-Appellant,
v.
RICARDO MARTINEZ,
Respondent-Appellant and Cross-Appellee.
))))))))
Appeal from
Circuit Court of
Macon County
No. 03F466
Honorable
Albert G. Webber,
Judge Presiding.
JUSTICE APPLETON delivered the opinion of the court:
As part of a marital settlement agreement, respondent, Ricardo Martinez, agreed to
allow petitioner, Linda Babcock, to have custody of their children and to pay a percentage of his net
monthly income as child support. The settlement agreement was incorporated into the final
judgment of dissolution entered in Cook County, Illinois, in 1987. Two months later, Ricardo
moved to the state of Kansas. In 1988, Linda sought enforcement of the support order pursuant to
the Revised Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act (RURESA) (Ill Rev. Stat. 1987, ch.
40, par. 1201 et seq.). In April 1988, the Kansas court entered an order, ordering Ricardo to pay
$200 per month as child support. In May 1988, the Kansas court increased the monthly support
amount to $300. The support payments were automatically deducted from Ricardo’s pay.
Sixteen years later, in January 2004, Linda filed a petition to increase child support
and for payment on arrearages. The trial court held that the Kansas support order did not supersede
or modify the original Illinois judgment, and as such, Ricardo had fallen into arrearages in the
payment of support in the amount of $92,159.91. He appeals from that order. Because we find the
doctrine of equitable estoppel prevented Linda from collecting the arrearage, we reverse the court’s