Child Support Legal Answers

My husband and I are separating amicably. We want to jointly file for an uncontested divorce in Chicago where we live so that he can move with our older daughter to Texas as quickly as possible. Our daughter is very gifted and has a scholarship to an art school there. Our younger son is going to continue to live in Chicago with me. My husband earns a lot more than me but we’ve agreed that he won’t pay child support because we’re each going to be raising one of our kids and he’s going to pay all transportation costs for them to go back and forth between Chicago and Texas for visits. I know child support is mandatory in Chicago but under these circumstances, can we waive it in our uncontested divorce proceeding? Would we need to tell a judge why my husband isn’t paying child support? Also, do we need to put the agreement about the transportation costs in writing?

I’m under a child support order to pay my ex $600 every month for my 2 kids with her. She doesn’t like my new girlfriend and for the last 3 months hasn’t let me see my kids. I told her I’m not paying child support until she lets me see them like the visitation order says I should. She’s threatened to file contempt papers against me because she says her lawyer told her child support and visitation are two separate issues. Do I have to pay support if she’s withholding visitation from me? Can I file contempt on her for disobeying our visitation order and if I can, is it better to get a lawyer to do it?