child support is a complete joke!?

Question

here what i dont get. prior to our divorce, if you take all things into consideration, mortage pmt, utilities, food, dr bills, clothing and school....split it right down the middle and it literly cost us 667.00 a mnth to raise our five yr old. then why am i paying 1350.00?????

Answer 1

Depends on the laws in your state but I can tell you how Florida does it. The percentage of the total income is calculated for both incomes. Then the total income is looked up on the state statute chart. That total support level is then divided by the percentage of the total income for both parties.

The methodology is fair but the numbers on that chart are completely unrealistic. In Florida the first child is basically 20 to 25 of the GROSS income. In my case even with a parochial school tuition and a small temporary (like 6 week) expense my ex could not come up with enough expenses on her financial affidavit to equal my support level. I was actually paying 2.2 times the actual expenses. She was actually profiting from motherhood.

There is no political concern for fairness while there are many groups ready to pounce on anything that lessens the advantage to the mother. Actually the law financially rapes the non-custodial parent. When the father is the custodial parent it is the mother who gets screwed by this.

BTW medical insurance was on top of the rate set by the chart.

Answer 2

Unfortunately, if he doesn't want to pay, he will find a way not to. This is a very common thing that a lot of so called "dads" do. They feel that a child is more of a inconvenience than someone that will grow up and be the person that may have to take care of him later in life. There are two ways you can approach this: You can complain about it, fight him about it, and become really mad, angry, and upset about it, and let it eat away at you. Or you can enjoy the time with your son, and realize that it is something your ex will not experience. Yes, money is important, and it will be very difficult, but you will have the memories of when he learns to drive, when he has his first date (if he hasn't already), when he goes to prom, graduation, and so on. In other words: Which is more important, getting money from your ex or enjoying the time you have left with your son before he moves out? I'm not saying you should just give up. Go to court and explain the situation. As davidmi711 said, "Call the local chapter of the American Bar Association." There are also a lot of good resources online that can give you other ideas. But don't get to emotional or wrapped up in this situation with your ex. It can (and very often does) affects your relationship with your son, which is more important than anything else.

Answer 3

Because its not about splitting the bills down the middle its about keeping the child in the same life style the child was use to before the parents decided to divorce.

Answer 4

Well, because now your ex is taking care of everything on her/his own, so s/he can't afford the cost of child "care" too. Actually, I'm glad to hear it. My friend got $25 a week when her son was 1 (and gets less now that he's 4) How fair is that? $25 a week doesn't even pay for diapers, let alone food.

Answer 5

She is a lucky lady! I got $120/month for my child support, a friend of mine received $25/ a month. I guess you could avoid paying by quitting your job and working "under the table" or going on welfare, but then you could just be a man and do your duty without complaining.

Answer 6

Because she had a better lawyer. Not joking! Lots of divorce settlements and support orders come out very lopsided because one person's lawyer is better than the others.

Answer 7

maintance cost for child. Now you are paying all of these things except they are not being used by you.

Answer 8

Nobody force you to have a baby.

Answer 9

get custody of the the kid