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CourtListener opinion 2803445

Date unknown · US

Extracted case name
In re Marriage of Ross
Extracted reporter citation
pending
Docket / number
Second District Docket No. 2-13-0961
QDRO relevance 5/5Retirement relevance 5/5Family-law relevance 5/5gold label pending
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Machine-draft public headnote: CourtListener opinion 2803445 is included in the LexyCorpus QDRO sample set as a public CourtListener opinion with relevance to pension / defined benefit issues. The current annotation is conservative: it identifies source provenance, relevance signals, and evidence quotes for attorney/agent retrieval. It is not a Willie-approved legal headnote yet.

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Category: pension / defined benefit issues

Evidence quotes

QDRO

in Du Page County circuit court case number 85-MR-111. ¶4 In May 2008, James died from injuries suffered in a workplace accident. In April 2012, Anita filed in case number 85-MR-111 a "petition for confirmation of lien, sale of real estate, and entry of a qualified domestic relations order." She alleged child support arrearages of $7,770 and $14,687.34, respectively, in case numbers 82-D-24518 and 85-MR-111. Adding statutory interest, Anita alleged a total arrearage of $65,976.46. Anita claimed that there was an existing lien in that amount against the assets of the Estate by operation of section 505(d) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissol

pension

lien arises by operation of law against the real and personal property of the noncustodial parent for each installment of overdue [child] support owed by the noncustodial parent.")). Those assets included real estate that James had owned in Elmhurst and a pension that he had earned from Iron Workers Mid-America. Anita sought an order directing the sale of the real estate and applying the proceeds to the support arrearage. She also sought a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) applying James's pension to the arrearage. -2- ¶5 The Estate responded by filing a nine-count motion to strike and dismiss Anita's

domestic relations order

e County circuit court case number 85-MR-111. ¶4 In May 2008, James died from injuries suffered in a workplace accident. In April 2012, Anita filed in case number 85-MR-111 a "petition for confirmation of lien, sale of real estate, and entry of a qualified domestic relations order." She alleged child support arrearages of $7,770 and $14,687.34, respectively, in case numbers 82-D-24518 and 85-MR-111. Adding statutory interest, Anita alleged a total arrearage of $65,976.46. Anita claimed that there was an existing lien in that amount against the assets of the Estate by operation of section 505(d) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissol

survivor benefits

is governed by the Probate Act. ¶ 17 Section 18-12 of the Probate Act specifies limitations periods for claims against a decedent's estate, providing in relevant part: "(a) Every claim against the estate of a decedent, except expenses of administration and surviving spouse's or child's award, is barred as to all of the decedent's estate if: (1) Notice is given to the claimant as provided in Section 18-3 and the claimant does not file a claim with the representative or the court on or before the date stated in the notice; or (2) Notice of disallowance is given to the claimant as provided in Section 18-11 and the claimant

Source and provenance

Source type
courtlistener_qdro_opinion_full_text
Permissions posture
public
Generated status
machine draft public v0
Review status
gold label pending
Jurisdiction metadata
US
Deterministic extraction
docket: Second District Docket No. 2-13-0961
Generated at
May 14, 2026

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Deterministic links based on shared title/citation terms and QDRO / retirement / family-law retrieval scores.

Clean opinion text

Illinois Official Reports

 Appellate Court

 In re Marriage of Ross, 2015 IL App (2d) 130961

Appellate Court In re MARRIAGE OF JAMES S. ROSS (Deceased), Petitioner, and
Caption ANITA ROSS PRUITT, Respondent and Petitioner-Appellee and
 Cross-Appellant (Holly Ross, Executor of the Estate of James S. Ross,
 Respondent-Appellant and Cross-Appellee).

District & No. Second District
 Docket No. 2-13-0961

Filed February 11, 2015
Modified upon denial
of rehearing April 2, 2015

Held The respondent's petition seeking to recover the child support
(Note: This syllabus arrearage due her from decedent was untimely under section 18-12(b)
constitutes no part of the of the Probate Act and section 510(e) of the Marriage and Dissolution
opinion of the court but of Marriage Act; therefore, the trial court's grant of respondent's
has been prepared by the motion to reconsider its dismissal of her petition was reversed and the
Reporter of Decisions cause was remanded to the trial court with directions to enter a
for the convenience of dismissal of the petition with prejudice.
the reader.)

Decision Under Appeal from the Circuit Court of Du Page County, No. 85-MR-111;
Review the Hon. Rodney W. Equi, Judge, presiding.

Judgment Reversed and remanded with directions.
 Counsel on Ramsey Senno, of Law Office of Anthony Abear, P.C., of Wheaton,
 Appeal for appellant.

 Michael A. Cotteleer, of Law Office of Michael A. Cotteleer, of
 Galena, for appellee.

 Panel JUSTICE BIRKETT delivered the judgment of the court, with
 opinion.
 Justices Hutchinson and Zenoff concurred in the judgment and
 opinion.

 OPINION

¶1 Holly Ross, executor of the estate of James S. Ross (James, but collectively with Holly,
 the Estate), appeals from the trial court's judgment in favor of Anita Ross Pruitt (Anita) on
 Anita's petition for child support that James was ordered to pay Anita in the 1983 decree
 dissolving their marriage. We agree with the Estate that Anita's petition to collect the child
 support arrearage was untimely under section 18-12(b) of the Probate Act of 1975 (755 ILCS
 5/18-12(b) (West 2012)). Therefore, we reverse the trial court's judgment.

¶2 I. BACKGROUND
¶3 James and Anita were married in 1968 in Oak Park, Illinois. The marriage produced three
 children, with the youngest born in 1972. In 1982, James filed for dissolution of the marriage
 in Cook County circuit court case number 82-D-24518. In May 1983, a judgment of
 dissolution was entered in that case. Anita was awarded physical custody of the children, and
 James was ordered to pay her $300 monthly in child support. In 1985, on Anita's petition, the
 dissolution judgment was registered in Du Page County circuit court case number
 85-MR-111.
¶4 In May 2008, James died from injuries suffered in a workplace accident. In April 2012,
 Anita filed in case number 85-MR-111 a "petition for confirmation of lien, sale of real estate,
 and entry of a qualified domestic relations order." She alleged child support arrearages of
 $7,770 and $14,687.34, respectively, in case numbers 82-D-24518 and 85-MR-111. Adding
 statutory interest, Anita alleged a total arrearage of $65,976.46. Anita claimed that there was
 an existing lien in that amount against the assets of the Estate by operation of section 505(d)
 of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (Marriage Act) (750 ILCS 5/505(d)
 (West 2012) ("[A] lien arises by operation of law against the real and personal property of
 the noncustodial parent for each installment of overdue [child] support owed by the
 noncustodial parent.")). Those assets included real estate that James had owned in Elmhurst
 and a pension that he had earned from Iron Workers Mid-America. Anita sought an order
 directing the sale of the real estate and applying the proceeds to the support arrearage. She
 also sought a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) applying James's pension to the
 arrearage.

 -2-
 ¶5 The Estate responded by filing a nine-count motion to strike and dismiss Anita's petition.
 Count II of the motion asserted that Anita's petition was in the "wrong venue." Specifically,
 the Estate claimed that, because James was deceased and his and Anita's youngest child was
 long since emancipated, Anita should have brought her action in probate court rather than
 domestic relations court.
¶6 Following a hearing on the motion to strike and dismiss, the trial court agreed with the
 Estate that the court had no jurisdiction because the divorce action abated upon James's
 death. The court denied the motion to strike and dismiss except as to count II. On that count,
 the court entered a dismissal but stayed it "for 60 days, pending the filing of a new action to
 foreclose any lien claimed by [Anita]."
¶7 Anita filed a motion to reconsider, citing case law to the effect that a party's death prior
 to entry of the final decree of divorce will abate the divorce proceeding, but that if the death
 occurs subsequent to the final decree there is no abatement. See, e.g., Fox v. Coyne, 25 Ill.
 App. 2d 352, 360 (1960).
¶8 In its response to the motion to reconsider, the Estate cited section 510(e) of the Marriage
 Act (750 ILCS 5/510(e) (West 2012)), which states that "[t]he right to petition for support or
 educational expenses, or both, under Sections 505 [(750 ILCS 5/505 (West 2012))] and 513
 [(750 ILCS 5/513 (West 2012))] is not extinguished by the death of a parent," but that "a
 claim *** against the estate of a decedent" for support or educational expenses is
 time-limited "by the provisions of the Probate Act of 1975 [(Probate Act) (755 ILCS 5/1-1
 et seq. (West 2012))], as a barrable, noncontingent claim." The Estate contended that Anita's
 claim was time-barred under section 18-12(b) of the Probate Act (755 ILCS 5/18-12(b)
 (West 2012)), which imposes an outer limit of two years for claims against a decedent's
 estate.
¶9 The motion to reconsider proceeded to hearing. In taking the matter under advisement,
 the court noted that its initial impression was that section 510(e) applied to new claims for
 child support, not attempts to collect arrearages of support previously ordered.
¶ 10 The court subsequently granted the motion to reconsider, finding that Anita was "entitled
 to attempt enforcement of any child support arrearage against the [E]state in this court." The
 Estate subsequently filed its response and affirmative defenses to Anita's petition. On Anita's
 motion, the court struck the response as too indefinite. In its amended response, the Estate
 brought several affirmative defenses. For instance, the Estate claimed laches and also
 reasserted that Anita's petition was barred under section 510(e) of the Marriage Act and
 section 18-12(b) of the Probate Act.
¶ 11 Further motion practice followed, and ultimately the court struck all affirmative defenses
 raised by the Estate except for laches. Anita's petition then proceeded to a bench trial. The
 court found in Anita's favor and entered judgment against the Estate for $68,562.70, which
 comprised a child support arrearage of $22,457.34 plus $46,105.36 in statutory interest. The
 court also entered a QDRO against James's pension. Finally, the court awarded Anita costs
 but declined to award her attorney fees.
¶ 12 The Estate filed a notice of appeal challenging the trial court's judgments (1) granting
 Anita's motion to reconsider the dismissal of her petition; (2) striking the Estate's affirmative
 defenses except for laches; and (3) finding, after trial, that laches did not apply to Anita's
 claim. Anita cross-appealed the denial of attorney fees.

 -3-
 ¶ 13 II. ANALYSIS
¶ 14 The Estate raises several contentions on appeal. One of them is that the trial court erred in
 ruling that section 510(e) of the Marriage Act, which incorporates the time limits of section
 18-12(b) of the Probate Act, did not bar Anita's claim against the Estate for overdue child
 support. The trial court's disagreement with the Estate over the impact of section 510(e) and
 section 18-12(b) on this case was the basis both for the court's judgment vacating its
 dismissal of Anita's petition and for its later judgment striking the Estate's affirmative
 defenses, one of which renewed the Estate's contention that Anita's claim was time-barred
 under those sections. We agree with the Estate that Anita's claim was indeed time-barred
 under section 510(e) and section 18-12(b).
¶ 15 We begin with section 505(a) of the Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5/505(a) (West 2012)),
 which provides that, in a proceeding for dissolution of marriage, the trial court "may order
 either or both parents owing a duty of support to a child of the marriage to pay an amount
 reasonable and necessary for the support." (Section 513 of the Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5/513
 (West 2012)), which is not involved in this appeal but is cited in section 510(e), permits the
 court in a dissolution proceeding to make an award for the support of non-minor children.)
 Section 510 of the Marriage Act (750 ILCS 5/510 (West 2012)) concerns proceedings for the
 modification or termination of provisions for spousal maintenance, child support, educational
 expenses, and property disposition. Applicable here are subsections (d) and (e) of section
 510, which state:
 "(d) Unless otherwise provided in this Act, or as agreed in writing or expressly
 provided in the judgment, provisions for the support of a child are terminated by
 emancipation of the child, or if the child has attained the age of 18 and is still
 attending high school, provisions for the support of the child are terminated upon the
 date that the child graduates from high school or the date the child attains the age of
 19, whichever is earlier, but not by the death of a parent obligated to support or
 educate the child. An existing obligation to pay for support or educational expenses,
 or both, is not terminated by the death of a parent. When a parent obligated to pay
 support or educational expenses, or both, dies, the amount of support or educational
 expenses, or both, may be enforced, modified, revoked or commuted to a lump sum
 payment, as equity may require, and that determination may be provided for at the
 time of the dissolution of the marriage or thereafter.
 (e) The right to petition for support or educational expenses, or both, under
 Sections 505 [(750 ILCS 5/505 (West 2012))] and 513 [(750 ILCS 5/513 (West
 2012))] is not extinguished by the death of a parent. Upon a petition filed before or
 after a parent's death, the court may award sums of money out of the decedent's
 estate for the child's support or educational expenses, or both, as equity may require.
 The time within which a claim may be filed against the estate of a decedent under
 Sections 505 and 513 and subsection (d) and this subsection shall be governed by the
 provisions of the Probate Act of 1975 [(755 ILCS 5/1-1 et seq. (West 2012))], as a
 barrable, noncontingent claim." (Emphasis added.) 750 ILCS 5/510(d), (e) (West
 2012).
¶ 16 In the italicized language in the last sentence of subsection (e), the legislature mentions
 claims under subsection (d) separately from claims under subsection (e). We presume that the
 legislature thereby contemplated a substantive distinction between two types of claims for

 -4-
 support against a deceased parent's estate. See People ex rel. Sherman v. Cryns, 203 Ill. 2d
 264, 280 (2003) ("Each word, clause and sentence of the statute, if possible, must be given
 reasonable meaning and not rendered superfluous."). Evidently, the distinction is that
 subsection (d), in its final two sentences, concerns a claim against an estate based on a
 support obligation existing at the parent's death, while the first two sentences of subsection
 (e) concern a claim against the estate for an initial or "new" award of support. The
 comprehensive conjunctive in the final sentence of subsection (e) subjects to the Probate Act
 all claims for support against an estate, whether the claims are based on support obligations
 existing at the parent's death or are "new" claims for support. Moreover, with respect to the
 class of claims based on existing support obligations, there is no language in subsection (e)
 excepting claims for support arrearages from the governance of the Probate Act. Therefore,
 Anita's claim for an arrearage is governed by the Probate Act.
¶ 17 Section 18-12 of the Probate Act specifies limitations periods for claims against a
 decedent's estate, providing in relevant part:
 "(a) Every claim against the estate of a decedent, except expenses of
 administration and surviving spouse's or child's award, is barred as to all of the
 decedent's estate if:
 (1) Notice is given to the claimant as provided in Section 18-3 and the
 claimant does not file a claim with the representative or the court on or before the
 date stated in the notice; or
 (2) Notice of disallowance is given to the claimant as provided in Section
 18-11 and the claimant does not file a claim with the court on or before the date
 stated in the notice; or
 (3) The claimant or the claimant's address is not known to or reasonably
 ascertainable by the representative and the claimant does not file a claim with the
 representative or the court on or before the date stated in the published notice as
 provided in Section 18-3.
 (b) Unless sooner barred under subsection (a) of this Section, all claims which
 could have been barred under this Section are, in any event, barred 2 years after
 decedent's death, whether or not letters of office are issued upon the estate of the
 decedent." (Emphasis added.) 755 ILCS 5/18-12 (West 2012).
 Anita's claim was brought more than two years after James's death. Thus it was barred.
¶ 18 Our reading of section 510(e) finds support in In re Marriage of Epsteen, 339 Ill. App. 3d
 586, 597 (2003), where the First District rejected the suggestion that section 510(e) subjects
 to the Probate Act only "new claim[s] for support," not claims for "enforcement [or]
 modification [of] an existing court order."
¶ 19 Anita, however, proposes several reasons why section 510 does not apply to claims for
 child support arrearages. First, she cites sections of the Code of Civil Procedure (Code) (735
 ILCS 5/1-101 et seq. (West 2012)) regarding the revival and enforcement of judgments.
 These sections apply here, Anita claims, because judgments of arrearage, and related liens,
 have already arisen in this case by operation of law. She cites section 505(d) of the Marriage
 Act (750 ILCS 5/505(d) (West 2012)):
 "(d) Any new or existing support order entered by the court under this Section
 shall be deemed to be a series of judgments against the person obligated to pay

 -5-
 support thereunder, each such judgment to be in the amount of each payment or
 installment of support and each such judgment to be deemed entered as of the date the
 corresponding payment or installment becomes due under the terms of the support
 order. Each such judgment shall have the full force, effect and attributes of any other
 judgment of this State, including the ability to be enforced. Notwithstanding any other
 State or local law to the contrary, a lien arises by operation of law against the real and
 personal property of the noncustodial parent for each installment of overdue support
 owed by the noncustodial parent." (Emphasis added.)
 Before moving to the Code sections that Anita cites, we reemphasize that section 510(e) of
 the Marriage Act subjects to the Probate Act all claims for child support, including those
 based on arrearages existing when the payor died. Although a support arrearage
 automatically creates a lien against the payor's property, the existence of a lien does not
 obviate the need to file a claim under the Probate Act against the payor's estate. See
 In re Estate of Garawany, 80 Ill. App. 3d 401, 404 (1980) ("It is *** long established that the
 filing of a lien for the amount claimed from an estate is not equivalent to the filing of a
 claim.").
¶ 20 We move to the Code sections on which Anita relies. Section 2-1602 of the Code (735
 ILCS 5/2-1602 (West 2012)) concerns the revival of judgments and provides pertinently:
 "(a) A judgment may be revived by filing a petition to revive the judgment in the
 seventh year after its entry, or in the seventh year after its last revival, or in the
 twentieth year after its entry, or at any other time within 20 years after its entry if the
 judgment becomes dormant. The provisions of this amendatory Act of the 96th
 General Assembly are declarative of existing law.
 ***
 (g) This Section does not apply to a child support judgment or to a judgment
 recovered in an action for damages for an injury described in Section 13-214.1 [(735
 ILCS 5/13-214.1 (West 2012))], which need not be revived as provided in this
 Section and which may be enforced at any time as provided in Section 12-108 [(735
 ILCS 5/12-108 (West 2012))]." (Emphasis added.)
¶ 21 Section 12-108 (735 ILCS 5/12-108 (West 2012)), cited in section 2-1602, concerns the
 enforceability of judgments, stating in relevant part:
 "(a) Except as herein provided, no judgment shall be enforced after the expiration of
 7 years from the time the same is rendered, except upon the revival of the same by a
 proceeding provided by Section 2-1601 of this Act [(735 ILCS 5/2-1601 (West
 2012))]; but real estate, levied upon within the 7 years, may be sold to enforce the
 judgment at any time within one year after the expiration of the 7 years. A judgment
 recovered in an action for damages for an injury described in Section 13-214.1 [(735
 ILCS 5/13-214.1 (West 2012))] may be enforced at any time. Child support
 judgments, including those arising by operation of law, may be enforced at any time."
 (Emphasis added.)
¶ 22 We have found nothing in the Code, the Marriage Act, or the Probate Act to explain the
 interplay of these statutes as to the question at hand. It also appears that no published Illinois
 decision has addressed the issue.

 -6-
 ¶ 23 In deciding the matter, however, we have recourse to the canons of statutory
 interpretation. "[W]here there are two statutory provisions, one of which is general and
 designed to apply to cases generally, and the other is particular and relates to only one
 subject, the particular provision must prevail." (Internal quotation marks omitted.) Hernon v.
 E.W. Corrigan Construction Co., 149 Ill. 2d 190, 195 (1992).
¶ 24 Under this canon, section 510(e) governs because it has the greater particularity. Sections
 2-1602 and 12-108 of the Code concern child support judgments generally, while section
 510(e) specifically addresses child support claims (including, as we have emphasized, claims
 for arrearages) against a deceased payor's estate.
¶ 25 Anita does not cite it, but section 12-157 of the Code (735 ILCS 5/12-157 (West 2012))
 explains how the death of a judgment debtor affects the enforceability of an existing
 judgment:
 "If a person dies, after a court enters on judgment for the payment of money against
 him or her, the judgment may be enforced against the real estate of such deceased
 person, or a sale may be made under such judgment, without reviving the judgment
 against his or her heirs, legatees or legal representatives. No sale shall be made until
 after the expiration of 12 months from the death of such deceased person, nor shall
 any sale be had on such judgment until the person in whose favor the judgment is
 sought to be enforced shall give to the executor or administrator, or if there is neither,
 the heirs of the deceased, at least 3 months' notice of the existence of such judgment,
 before proceeding to sell, which notice shall be in writing if the parties required to be
 notified reside or may be found within the State, and their place of residence known,
 otherwise publication notice shall be given in the same manner as is provided for
 other civil cases."
 Section 12-157 is a general provision on the survival of judgments against a party who later
 dies; it speaks of judgments generally and does not address judgments for child support
 specifically. (In an interesting comparison, sections 2-1602 and 12-108 of the Code address
 the enforceability of child support judgments but do not specifically address enforceability
 against a decedent's estate.) Section 510(e) of the Marriage Act, by contrast, specifically
 addresses child support claims against the estate of a deceased, and its sweeping language
 renders all such claims subject to the Probate Act, including those based on judgments and
 liens that have arisen automatically by operation of section 505(d) of the Marriage Act.
 Therefore, section 510(e) is the more particular provision.
¶ 26 Moreover, section 12-157 is not at odds with section 18-12 of the Probate Act. The first
 sentence of section 12-157 addresses a subject–the revival of judgments–about which section
 18-12 simply is not concerned. The remainder of the section establishes a 12-month waiting
 period for the sale of the deceased's real property in satisfaction of the judgment and requires
 that advance notice of the sale be given to the executor or administrator of the deceased's
 estate or, if there is none, to the heirs of the deceased. There is no facial conflict between
 these sale and notice provisions and the time strictures in section 18-12 for filing a claim
 against an estate. Section 12-157 may be read to assume that a claim with respect to the
 deceased debtor's real estate was filed against the estate in compliance with section 18-12.
 See Martinez v. County of Stephenson, 268 Ill. App. 3d 427, 430 (1995) ("Statutes that
 address the same subject matter are in pari materia and, if possible, should receive
 harmonious and consistent constructions.").

 -7-
 ¶ 27 We turn to Anita's remaining reasons for why we should not apply section 510 of the
 Marriage Act to her claim for overdue child support. First, Anita cites remarks from case law
 that, in her view, demonstrate "the inviolability of lien rights." She quotes the following
 remark from Tinney v. Wolston, 41 Ill. 215, 219 (1866): "There is no rule of law better
 recognized than that a person who gives to another a valid lien, or against whom the law has
 created a lien, is unable, by any act of his short of discharging it, to impair or affect it." She
 also cites these remarks from Temesvary v. Houdek, 301 Ill. App. 3d 560, 564-65 (1998):
 "The legislature has the power, subject to constitutional limitations, to provide for
 liens to secure the payment of debts and other obligations, and legislative authority
 exists to create by statute a right of lien where no such right existed at common law.
 [Citation.] Lien laws are liberally construed to effect the purpose intended by the
 legislature."
¶ 28 These statements do not on their face bar application of the Marriage Act and the Probate
 Act to Anita's claim, and she provides no context from the cases by which we might better
 evaluate their pertinence. Therefore, we reject this point.
¶ 29 Anita also characterizes her claim for delinquent child support as an in rem action that
 operates independently of the strictures of section 18-12 of the Probate Act. Comparing
 claims for overdue support to mortgage foreclosure actions, Anita cites the holding of the
 First District in Financial Freedom v. Kirgis, 377 Ill. App. 3d 107, 127 (2007), that an action
 to foreclose a mortgage, being an action in rem, is not subject to section 18-12. In so holding,
 the Financial Freedom court relied on two supreme court decisions, Markus v. Chicago Title
 & Trust Co., 373 Ill. 557, 561 (1940), and Waughop v. Bartlett, 165 Ill. 124, 129-30 (1896),
 which held that a foreclosure action is an in rem proceeding. Anita fails to acknowledge,
 however, that the supreme court's decision in ABN AMRO Mortgage Group, Inc. v.
 McGahan, 237 Ill. 2d 526, 538 (2010), overruled Markus, Waughop, and Financial Freedom
 and held that foreclosure actions are quasi in rem, not in rem, proceedings. In its reply brief,
 the Estate points out the omission, characterizing it as a "critical mistake." We presume that
 the failure to acknowledge the overruling of these authorities was careless and not
 intentional. Not only, however, do we expect greater care in the citation of authorities, we
 also expect a party to acknowledge and apologize for her citation of overruled authority when
 the opposing party points it out. Here, when the Estate in its reply brief identified the error,
 Anita's subsequent reply in support of her cross-appeal failed to acknowledge it.
¶ 30 As Anita provides no authority apart from Markus, Waughop, and Financial Freedom for
 her notion that proceedings for overdue child support are in rem proceedings, we reject her
 contention.
¶ 31 In conclusion, we hold that section 510(e) of the Marriage Act applies to Anita's claim
 against the Estate for overdue child support. Under section 18-12(b) of the Probate Act,
 which section 510(e) incorporates, Anita's claim is untimely and, consequently, barred.
 Therefore, the trial court erred in granting Anita's motion to reconsider its dismissal of her
 petition. Since our decision on this issue is dispositive of this appeal, we need not address the
 Estate's remaining contentions of error. Also, our decision moots Anita's cross-appeal of the
 trial court's decision denying her request for attorney fees in connection with her claim
 against the Estate.
¶ 32 We note that the court had originally stayed the dismissal of Anita's petition "for 60 days,
 pending the filing of a new action to foreclose any lien claimed by [Anita]." As Anita's claim

 -8-
 for overdue support falls under, and is categorically foreclosed by, section 510(e) of the
 Marriage Act, we direct the court on remand to enter a dismissal with prejudice.

¶ 33 III. CONCLUSION
¶ 34 For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the judgment of the circuit court of Du Page
 County and remand this case for the court to dismiss with prejudice Anita's petition for
 overdue child support.

¶ 35 Reversed and remanded with directions.

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