Deadbeat Parents: Child Support Must Be Paid:
(Provided by: Divorce Source, Inc. Staff)
Normally when spouses divorce, the court names one of them (usually the mother) the custodial parent, and the other (usually the father), the noncustodial parent. In this routine, which prevails in 90 percent of the divorces with minor children, the noncustodial parent pays child support to the custodial parent for the benefit of their children. Jurisdictions calculate child support in different ways, and the amount can be changed based on changing circumstances in the lives of the former married couple.Go to: Deadbeat Parents Informational SectionChild support enforcement is a major problem in America because a surprising number of parents simply drift away from their children after a divorce. When parents act in bad faith, aggressive methods of collection come into play. Courts take child support seriously. Child support cannot be discharged through bankruptcy. Both civil and criminal contempt of court are extreme actions taken in response to delinquent support.
Deadbeat dads and moms are a social problem because society ends up supporting financially abandoned children. "We want to emphasize that our fight is about justice. It's not about gender; a deadbeat mom is just as bad as a deadbeat dad. It's about what is right and what is wrong, and the kind of support that children deserve," says Sophie Vorburger, president of the National Child Support Foundation.
In spite of these measures to enforce payment of child support, a surprising number of noncustodial parents fail to honor the obligation of child support. Less than half of all custodial parents, men and woman, receive all the child support that they are owned, and about three-quarters receive some of the child support they are owned, according to statistics from the United States Census Bureau. According to one source, delinquent parents owe more than $100 billion in unpaid child support, and about 25 percent of the children denied parental child support live below the poverty line.
Noncustodial parents fall into arrears with child support payments for a number of reasons. In some cases, the noncustodial parent simply lacks the money to pay support. Some claim poverty. About a quarter contend that they use nonpayment to protest a lack of visitation rights. About two-thirds of the noncustodial parents claim that they lack accountability over the spending of the support money. Some men also withhold payment because they dispute paternity.
While these arguments may contain truthful elements in individual cases, courts hold that child support is a legal obligation that cannot be abridged by the noncustodial parent. The order to pay child support is a court order and failure to pay is contempt of court.
Go to: Child Support Informational Section
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