Fathers typically do not question their responsibility to reasonably support their children after a divorce. Reasonable support maintains a child’s a living standard based on what the father is financially able to pay. Unfortunately, reasonable support as a concept was tossed out the window in favor of child support as a means of punishment.
Too often, support is calculated on guidelines that have the practical effect of decreasing the father’s standard of living while permitting to the ex-wife to spend a disproportionate amount of his income on herself, boyfriends, etc., without regard to the child’s actual needs. In short, a woman’s wants, rather than needs, have become the paramount focus of courts and child support enforcement offices nationwide.
Frequently unable or occasionally unwilling to pay child support, many noncustodial parents abandon contact with their children, often moving to another state. Children become a “burden,” and are closely identified with the pain associated with the divorce. The term “deadbeat dad” came to life because men are usually not the custodial parent. No one questioned the wisdom of child support awards that forced men to become fugitives.
A job layoff and resulting loss of income could make a man a criminal in addition to unemployed. In many states, a man can check the Internet to find a picture of himself as a wanted man with an outstanding warrant for his arrest based solely on nonpayment of child support. Regardless of the justice or injustice of the situation, it is important to know the key laws enacted to deal with interstate child support enforcement. Reform is needed, make your voice be heard.
