Appeals are complicated, as far as the procedure goes, and most attorneys don't like doing them because of that, it's much too easy to make mistakes.  You need to have an attorney who does appellate work handle this for you.  One place to find a lawyer is our website, http://attorneypages.comI'm not an Illinois lawyer, and I dont' have all the facts of your case, so I can't give you reliable advice.  But every state in the nation, thanks to Congress, has passed a law that makes it pretty much impossible to undo back child support;  if you have a good reason to have it reduced, it is only reduced from when you file papers asking for the reduction (if you're lucky), not from when the reason like job loss happened.  So it doesn't much matter if the judge that day knew very little about the case;  if he knew that you owed 17 (or however many) weeks at whatever number of dollars, a calculator was the only thing needed to tell you what had to be paid.Back child support.  You're going to have to pay it because it is what it is.  The courts can't change it, and it doesn't get discharged in bankruptcy.  It's not for your ex, it's for your children.