Hey Dan, I feel you. If child support didnt exist then the parent that wanted to be there for the kid would be. Each parent will do the best they can with what they have. I don’t understand why half your check is missing, I thought you said it was 25%. Though I understand what this article is trying to say I don’t fully agree with it. Since both parents have a duty to support, the parent who isn’t taking care of the child has to pay back the welfare. In PA of Armstrong county. I am so frustrated and upset that I really do not have any words for him. Now he is labeled a ” deadbeat dad “. Steevo, I am contemplating doing just that. So this guy told me that the money was taken due to the support I told him I was gifted that money which o have proof and he raised his voice and told me “so you have responsibilities with this support case” and he snapped. She split up our family with 5 young kids and tried to bankrupt me in the process. But the simple fact she had to go ask for help is heart wrenching enough, what they receive in welfare is the bare minimum to live on, it doesn’t provide a luxurious life as most of you say. Fathers are often sidelined.” The core of the problem with modern child support laws is that there is too much emphasis on enforcement and not enough focus on getting fathers involved in their children’s lives. She was lazy. 1) It is mind boggling to me that people are complaining about $1,000/month child support when their ex has full custody. It took 4 years of back and forth through the courts trying to get the time-sharing custody plan in place so the child support could be reduced but she kept stalling and wouldn’t provide her tax returns because she knew it would be all over for her. They are not killing their cash cows. New laws need to be passed in child support. I highly disagree with 50/50 custody. Do some research. I tried to be Nice, I begged my husband to please give his kids time, love and support. You should be paying like 1160 to the mom. This system simply destroyed me and any hope i once had. His girlfriend don’t even take care of her children. I have paid over 80000 in child support in 14 years and about 5000 for depositions and another 20000 for lawyers. when BOTH parents want custody) mothers win full custody about 75% of the time. 42 US Code 654(21)(a) caps the amount of interest that a state can charge at 6-percent per year, but many states ignore this statute. Well thats not fair. You and I both know those incidences are fewer and further in between, but it tells a good story doesn’t it? That’s worth way more than any amount of money for child support. Thank you just my opinion as a single mom of what are now adult children I raised! and I foot the bill for everything else like rent, health insurance, utilities, school expenses, birthdays, holidays, cell phones, activities and all the other little extras. It’s not forever though. In P.A. It’s a guaranteed paycheck every month to the custodial parent in which they can do with what they please with little to no oversight.. As a side note/observation – I saw a comment that was questioning why the mothers vastly greater income mattered.. If you only owe arrears, they have the COAP thay you may want to look into. Same holds true for adoption. Each man was informed about the fatherhood program, each was given a speech about how pointless it is to lock up fathers for child support when it just costs the state money and puts the fathers out of work. You haven’t stopped to consider that most men lose their kids 90% of the time. This blows my wife has 400k trust fund her dad pays her13 k to be in a band she has a part timing gig at weight watchers only to make 25 k a minimum here her dad did our taxes for years and he has pumped thousand of dollars over the years as gifted money. Why is everything focused on the father paying I’m a single dad of 3 she left me with the kids and when I took child support out on her the paperwork basically only asks about the father it’s a sexist system today it seems more men are being the ones raising the kids and still getting shafted by the system it’s been 4 years since she left she doesn’t call or even text the kids she won’t pay a dime and I’m pretty sure she never will and the system won’t do anything about it because she is female things need to change about this system it’s definitely not the same as it used to be. I had 2 children with a woman that was 18 years older than me. Rose you really are making it sounds so like you created the child alone. I have been dealing with the same issue. Check out a documentary called, DivorceCorp. The average father won’t bring home enough money to get a decent place to live where his children can come and stay the night occasionally. But i have a pick set in my gear so I opened the door. I feel that they need to fix this. Some custodial parents think that money is all they have to contribute to raising their child or children. I was confused as how this could be a debt even before a child support order existed?? As soon as the child gets used to one way of doing things, it’s time to go and stay with the other parent. The equal earning parents then have dramatically different post-child support budgets, since one is receiving and the other is paying. Child Support Enforcement can be a tool to ensure those dads (and moms) who voluntarily decide not to support their children are forced too, but these laws need to be revamped significantly. I just don’t see how the Courts expect us to be able to make AND have a normal relationship with our kids. Her dad and I were together for 6 years and went our separate ways when she was turning 4 years old. There should be no extra money for extra time. The arearage is now paid and we have only 6 more mos before the child turns 19 – thank God. Always has worked, but when the state used to try and find him he moved. Then she brought in a hand written note that anyone could of wrote. Look outside the little bubble of your life and understand that people that have less in life still have children and bad things happen to people. Bruce you are right on time with this brother. The ex refused to settle after recieving the court finding of fact, and the financial discovery revealing that the ex spent my childs college fund to “make a down payment on a house for our child”. I know how all of these fathers feel. The putative father does not have the luxury, after the fact of conception, to decide that he is not ready for fatherhood. I’m blessed that he is the father of my children. If the mother has no income, the state gets nothing (10% of 0 = $0). They will have to find a roommate or family to live with to cover costs. If the custodial parent can’t be bothered to document and substantiate actual costs then they should get either nothing or 50% of a basic formula for what the average costs of a child’s educational and healthcare are for whatever age. A parent should be able to see their kids if they are paying, paternity testing should be done before payment is received, if arrearages are getting high( then a caseworker should call and ask for a modification). 1. So how is a man supposed to pay current support plus back support with interest. Child support needs to be reformed where almost like food stamps where the money can be used for certain things like food, clothes and other essential things. I’m in Illinois btw.. Jamie I can relate. The child support system is Set up to PUNISH the hard working parent and MOTIVATE the lazy parent to continue to be jobeless and lazy. My current husband’s ex wife takes almost $1000 a month from us for 2 kids. Every time the father went to see him they said he wasn’t home or playing.The mothers defense is that she was overwhelmed. I believe the states couldn’t care less about whether your child is supported. I have to save for a month to be able to take them to a movie. I have one child and her father and I don’t have any written form of agreement. Both parent’s income IS EXACTLY WHAT GENERATES THE AMOUNT THE COURTS DEFINE AS NECESSARY. Having the higher earner shoulder more of the financial responsibility, just because they can makes little sense…especially when they are ones who see the child the least! I had to track it sown to get credit and when I did they didnt refund my 9000 of being over paid they just kept taking and I was quite a bit ahead. Once I informed her of this it – she began to avoid my calls, msgs. If the non-custodial parent wasn’t paying back the welfare, then that isn’t fair to citizens. I got 50-50 custody of my son at eight months old, but still have to pay her $600 a month. And NEVER MARRY BOYS! And to top it all off he wanted me to go on a talk show in the 1990s. I grew up without a father and I know they’re better off with both parents in their life.