In no way is the information regarding child support laws found in this blog post to be misconstrued as legal advice. This article is not a ‘how to beat the child support system‘ guide. The data gathered here, comes from my own personal research. I had to battle child support for 18 years, and it was used as a weapon whenever my child’s mother disagreed with what was going on in my personal life. My mission is to share what I have discovered throughout the eighteen years of research. With that said and done, lets dive in.
What better place to start than with the basics. Child support is often referred to in family law as child maintenance. This is the process of an ongoing payment arrangement made by the courts for the financial benefit of the child and or children. In legal terms, an obligor to an obligee for the wellbeing of a child or children of a relationship that has been terminated. In the majority of cases the obligor (the one that has to pay) is the non-custodial parent. The obligee (the one that receives payment) is usually considered the custodial parent.
This is where things start to get a little tricky to say the least. It all comes down to what jurisdiction you reside in. In some situations there may not be a non-custodial parent, for example in a joint custody situation the child or children in question will legally have two custodial parents. In this type of situation the custodial parent that generates the highest revenue (the obligor) is usually required to pay the other custodial parent (the obligee).
According to the law, child support is based on the policy that each parent is obligated to take care of their child and or children, even if the child and or children does not reside with the parents. Individuals often confuse emotional support, spiritual support or physical care and support with child support. Child support refers to the financial support of children.
In the case of the children still residing with both parents the courts will normally stay out of the financial priorities of the child’s well being. However, in the case where the parents are not together, the legal system will often have one parent pay an agreed upon amount set by the courts to the other parent. Most jurisdictions have a formula based on each individuals financial situation. There are many ways that this can be handled, and at the end of the day it usually comes down to a case-by-case situation.
Many individuals who have to pay child support feel that they also have a right to visitation. In most jurisdictions each of those situations are completely different and each is enforceable separately. The parent with the child or the custodial parent cannot keep the child from the noncustodial parent just because he or she is late or behind on child support payments. On the other hand a noncustodial parent is still obligated to pay their support even if they are denied or have partial visitation.
Child support laws have a long way to go. There are many unfair areas that need to be addressed but unfortunately no one seems to care. A good example of what I am talking about is a custodial parent who intentionally withholds contact of the child with the non-custodial parent can get away without any legal ramifications. A non-custodial parent has no recourse to enforce their natural rights. Since we are on the subject of the laws being unfair, try this on for size. Penalties for failing to make payments can be enforced without proof, or the individuals ability to pay regardless of the needs of the child. Recent studies by Dr. Stephen Baskerville states that approximately two-thirds of the payment from the non-custodial parent is profit to the custodial parent. I ask you, where is the fairness in that?
Even those individuals who do not deserve the title of parent, who wish to have nothing to do with their child, are still obligated to child support laws to supply child support. According to the courts, a child’s right to child support supersedes the individuals wishes to not take responsibility as a parent.
Here is another issue that I felt needed to be addressed from a legal perspective. I am referring to the issue of how the child support money is actually used. I cannot begin to tell you how often my ex-wife would call complaining where is the payment because her car payment was do. My son use to call me all the time in need of additional necessities because he mother deemed buying a new car to be more important.
The whole purpose of child support is to serve the child’s financial needs i.e. school, clothing, shelter and food. Nowhere in the rules and regulation of the child support guidelines does it say that it is meant to be “pocket money” for the parent or the child. However on the flip side, the courts have stated that it is acceptable for the payments to benefit the custodial parent indirectly. When I asked for specifics of this ruling I was told if the money was used to pay the electric bill that was fine even if others benefited from it.
Once my ex-wife revealed that the payments were going towards her new car, and my son was doing without I took her back to court. The court agreed with me and she was forced to list items such as his schooling, medical etc. and the court allowed me to pay them directly. In the good old Untied States of America many of the Universities consider the non-custodial parent to be responsible for paying a portion of the cost of college.
Child support laws can quickly become a complicated subject matter. Just because I had a horrible experience, doesn’t mean that everyone will. There have been situations where both parents were able to agree without the assistants of the legal system. This is the ideal scenario if you can obtain it.
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Child Support Reduction Information