Search

The Online Encyclopedia and Dictionary

 
     
 

Encyclopedia

Dictionary

Quotes

 

Child support

In many countries, child support is the ongoing obligation for a periodic payment made by a non-custodial parent to a custodial parent, caregiver or guardian, for the care and support of children of a relationship or marriage that has broken down. In family law, child support is often arranged as part of a divorce, marital separation, dissolution, annulment or dissolution of a civil union and may supplement alimony (spousal support) arrangements.

In most juridictions there is no need for the parents to be married, and only paternity and/or maternity (filiation) need to be demonstrated for a child support obligation to be found by a competent court. Child support may also operate through the principle of estoppel where a de facto parent that is in loco parentis for a sufficient time to establish a permanent parental relationshp with the child or children.

Child support is based on the policy that the parents are obliged to pay for the support of their children, even when the children are not living with both biological parents and even when only one parent is given the role of caregiver for the child or children. This occurs when the other parent is not given legal or physical custody. In such cases the obligation to care for the child or participate in major decisions in the child's upbringing may only fulfilled financially, though courts usually grant visitation to non-custodial parents.

In some jurisdictions the privilege of visitation (or access) is tied to child support, if the custodial parent refuses to allow the non-custodial parent to visit with the child the non-custodial parent can petition the court to temporarily stop support payments. However, some jurisdictions view this as punishing the child, not the parent and in such cases the court may order additional visitation to the non-custodial parent. Visitation, is a limited form of custody.

Child support laws vary around the world. Some jurisdictions sort the arrangements out directly between the parents. Others involve the state, often collecting child support payments as an extra income tax. In the United States some non-custodial parents see that there is no accountablity on the part of the custodial parent regarding how child support payments are spent, they accuse the custodial parent of spending the support payments on non-child related expenses. The only recourse is for the non-custodial parent to petition the court for a change of custody, which is often a very difficult change to achieve.

Because of the high levels of payments sometimes demanded, the avoidance of child support payments is common. Many non-custodial parents who have been subject to acrimonious divorces often see these payments as unfair and excessive. Some custodial parents who have been the victim in abusive relationships view the avoidance of child support payments by the other parent as another way of perpetuating the abuse. Those who avoid their child support obligations are often termed dead-beat parents as a result.

In the United States, many states have passed laws that suspend an individual's licenses (i.e. driver's license, business license, contractor license) if that individual has significant arrearage in support payments or does not consistently pay support.

In the U.S., when child support arrearages are owed to an obligee (often a mother), the 1986 U.S. law commonly known as the Bradley Amendment allows the obligee, and only the obligee, to lower the arrearages, i.e. no judicial discretion is allowed (e.g. no bankruptcy protection), nor can any state's congress override this (e.g. no statute of limitations).

Since enactment in 1996 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), a major impetus to collection of child support in the United States is the Welfare law. A custodial parent receiving public assistance (Temporary Aid to Needy Families or TANF) is required to assign his or her right to child support to the Department of Welfare before cash assistance is received. Another requirement is that the custodial parent must pursue child support from the non-custodial parent . Where successful, the child support is then diverted to the welfare program instead of the custodial parent as partial reimbursement of the cash assistance being paid. If the amount of child support paid equals or exceeds the assistance grant, the family is moved off the cash assistance portion of the program (they may still be eligible for food stamps and medical assistance). Other provisions of PRWORA require the custodial parent to find employment and will assist that parent in finding and maintaining such employment (such as buying new work clothes or repairing a vehicle to get them to work). If the custodial parent becomes employed, their cash assistance will be reduced based on the amount of income received. If child support is also being paid, the chances are that it will then be greater than the assistance grant and the family will move off the welfare rolls (at least as far as cash assistance is concerned) . The child support enforcement programs in all fifty states are primarily funded by the federal government through each state’s Department of Welfare.

Child support generates revenue for states. "The percent of payments going to families was 86% or more in 47 states" (cf. 90 Percent of Distributed Collections Go to Families). "Unpaid child support debt, which is approaching $100 billion, according to states' reports...Clearly, we need to design and implement more effective strategies to collect arrears...We know that about half of the debt is owed to the government, and not to the families" (cf. Arrears Increase to $96 Billion), said Ms. Sherri Z. Heller, Ed.D, Commissioner of U.S. Office of Child Support Enforcement in a recent report. The United States federal government, through the Social Security Administration, provides up to $4.1 billion in financial incentives to states that create support and arrearage orders, and then collect (cf. 6B, 6C, & 6D).

Child support creates jobs for the divorce industry. Family court judges earn $90,000 to $160,000 per year (cf. p. 1 table). They require a staff. One association claims "60,000 professionals includes line/managerial/executive child support staff; state and local agencies; judges; court masters; hearing officers; government and private attorneys; social workers; advocates; corporations that partner with government to provide child support services and private collection agencies."

Child support division of the Circuit Court is essentially an accounting department that keeps record of what amount is owed and paid. Unfortunately, the county clerks that are responsible for accurate record keeping are not certified accountants, so inaccuracies are common. Currently, outside auditors do not monitor child support report’s accuracy. In many counties, like Illinois’ Cook and Kane counties, the division audits themselves.

While the county's reports are the official record keeper, the state also have their support reports, cancelled checks with relevant support orders is all the evidence needed to prove your claim.

Research

External links

Government Links

Further Reading

The contents of this article are licensed from Wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. How to see transparent copy