Jail time for owing child support?

Question

What are your feelings on some states that give jail time to fathers (or non-custodial parents) who are behind on thier child support payments? So they lose thier licenses, homes, jobs, and relationship w/thier children? Mind you, Not all parents who are behind on thier thier child support are dirty, thoughtless b*stards...Perhaps they have valid reasons for not being current. Meanwhile, the greedy jerk who is responsible for having them put in jail has also created a broken family situation in the first place. Is this an intelligent way of aiding children?? What are you thoughts? Please feel free to join my group! http://groups.yahoo.com/group/THECHILDSUPPORTCON

TO ALL THE MORONS WHO actually SUPPORT puttiing the non-custodial parents in jail for arrears: U need a serious REALITY CHECK!! Example: Lets put all of you who owe DEBT in jail too- WHY NOT PUT YOU ALL IN JAIL FOR BEING BEHIND ON YOUR BILLS??!! Its the same thing!! HAH! Bet youde change your minds REAL QUICK!! I have no patience for stupid ppl!!!

Answer 1

Of course its wrong, courts demand money that most fathers cant pay. More women should be forced to take responsibility as well for the children that they choose to birth. If 'deadbeat' fathers can be put in jail for the children they can't afford, deadbeat mothers who birth children they know they can't afford should be put in jail as well.

Answer 2

personally if one was to fall behind for a legit reason..sickness ,laid off etc. i don't think they should go to jail.I mean we already have the one of the largest prison per populations in the world! Now if they take his license how can he work?Many jobs require a valid license.Also if she gets the house where does he stay? put the three together and you have yourself a ruined man ,homeless ,with a criminal record and no license.So even if he got a job it would be a Mcjob
The problem with this system is like any other free ride programs like welfare.True there was a time a man could walk out and get away with it with no fear.This was long ago though.The big problem is that most judges are old and disconnected with reality.Its not 1950 anymore and women are almost even with men as far as adultery nowadays.What will fix it is when we get some new blood behind that bench and stop the free ride.ITS sad when a guy already knows that she will get custody and he will have to pay before the divorce even gets started........... END THE FREE RIDES!!!!

Answer 3

Well, the honor system doesn’t work, that’s for sure.

Its not a bill, its child support. Jail time is to be an incentive not to ‘forget’ about the lives they helped create. Its to show it’s a serious problem…and the state is tired of paying for deadbeats children. And they are VERY serious about taking care of what you created.

Its bad enough the ex (male or female) wont even take the time to climb in a vehicle to visit with their children on the weekends (as HARD as that sounds). Bet they would if they were getting paid for it though.

No, not everyone whom is behind is a jerk. But those whom claim they cant afford the child support, and go out and get a new vehicle (with payments and mandatory full coverage insurance), new house, vacations, have MORE kids….well, these sorts NEED to go to jail.

Its hard on both sides, but to SOME deadbeats (male or female), MONEY IS THEIR GOD.

If you feel you are paying too much, here is a CS calculator, for all states.

Answer 4

I agree that the children need to be taken care of first. I believe that it is the responsibility of the custodial and the non-custodial parent to make sure the children are taken care of. Jail is not the answer to those that are behind on child support. Taking their licenses to earn an income is only making matters worse.
For those that are willfully not paying child support they should be put on work release. They would go to work duing the day and report to jail each night. This punishment should be done for about thirty days initially to get their attention. One of the biggest problems that needs to be addressed is financial accountability of the parent receiving the child support. Once the child support is received they can spend it on whatever they want with no accountibility. As a person that pays child support this is my biggest complaint. The system does not work and needs to be changed. Those custodial parents that receive child support and do not spend it on the children should be put in jail as well.

Answer 5

My state: Arkansas, has varying offenses for this. The higher your arrears, the worse the punishment. Felony charges are for $10,000 or higher I believe. Do I think this is right?

If you're not able to pay what's ordered to you, you have 3 choices. Accept the consequences of non-payment; petition the court for reasonable payments; change jobs and or lifestyles.

You don't have to lose the relationship with the children. Mother cannot deny you access to children because of non-payment of child support. But if you're just behind for a couple of months, I don't see a problem if you're still trying. And I don't think a judge will either. Maybe you can hire an atty. and get the payments reduced.

Answer 6

Not all people that are behind on child support are men. Just had to get that off my chest! There are dead-beat moms too! Out of all the people I know that have been jailed for non-payment, not a one of them had a legitimate excuse! I am sure their may be somebody that has had a good one, but I have never heard of one.

I have watched male friends of mine lovingly sacrifice their lifestyles to make sure they are supporting their children. Their intent is to let their children know how important they are to them, even with sacrificing their own needs. Many dead-beats don't want to work that second job or cut into their good time money to help take care of their children. Dead-beats know the repercussions but still neglect their duties and then cry when they are punished. No sympathy here!

Answer 7

Is the delinquent parent eating? Sleeping in a warm bed? wearing clothes? Well the child would like to also. As a parent you take on as many jobs as it takes to pay your support and don't give any lame excuses. A lot of these people went out and started new families and can't afford the "old Family" Boo Hoo! I have a wonderful husband and family and have never had these problems but we know quite a lot that have. Most times the check doesn't come for ridiculous reasons. Stop your whining and get paying!

Answer 8

I personally think it should depend on the situation and the circumstances. Yes, there are many dead-beat fathers out there who don't pay child support, and in my opinion, should face jail time if they don't pay.

But I agree there are some men out there who would pay the child support they owe if they could, but are having financial problems which have put them behind on their payments. In this type of case, I don't think jail time is appropriate.

As long as the father is trying, and is at least paying SOMETHING towards what he owes, then he should be shown a little leniency. If he's doing nothing at all and just letting the balance add up, then he deserves what he gets.

Answer 9

I believe that nearly the entire child support system is flawed. Don't get me wrong. A father should contribute to the upbringing of his child/children, even if he or his actions were not the cause of the broken home situation. Also, keep in mind that there are some fathers that have the children and the non-custodial parent is the mother. Some of those mothers actually do try to do the right thing and try their best to make things work with the child support system. But in this answer that I am posting, I am just going to use father as the term for who we are talkinga bout beings that I am one of those fathers that has to pay child support, and fact is, it is mostly the fathers that have to do this.

Answering the question, do I think that jail time should be served for fathers who are behind on their child support? Yes and no. I do work for a sheriff's department, and I am behind a little on my child support. I get to see many warrants get issued for people that are behind. However, the people that I have seen brought in to jail for being behind were more like $12,000 behind in thier payments.

That sounds like a large number, but you have to realize how they might have come to owing up that much. Everyones amount they have to pay is different. Mine is around $350/mo and someone else that makes a hell of a lot more money than I do can have around $1100/mo. Obviously it would take me a lot longer to get up to $12,000 behind than the other guy.

Funny thing is, the courts do not see it like that. They will issue a warrant for that guy just as quick. I think from there they need to sit down and look at why it got behind that much. In reality, if I owed that much to child support, then you can just calculate that I have not been paying mine a hell of a lot longer than that guy. It would take me a few years to get that far be hind, where as it would take him just about a year to do is all. So that wouldn't be fair to him.

Now, I do believe that there are some people that do need to serve time in jail. The AG needs to investigate more and find out if they were just workign for cash under the table, or if they just were not working at all, or even if they just weren't sending the money in. They need to find this stuff out to seperate the people that need to go to jail from the others. The ones that have been paying but have been have bouncing from job job, probably shouldnt be jail but given a warning to get stability in thier life.

If someone does go to jail, then how does that give support to the child/children? It doesn't. These guys should be made to go to a work program sort of like what we have in places in Texas call I.S.F (Intermidieate Sanction Facility). These places are probation/parole and restitution centers. They allow the inmates to have jobs in the outside world, but they keep the inmates pay in an account. This would be sure that the person would get the money in and paid to the child.

Now another flaw in the system is how they gauge how much we have to pay for child support. Is some cases, the 20% of the income of the non-custodial parent is alright. However, when you get someone that makes $100,000 a year who ends up having a child with someone that is just a basically crappy mother who doesn't want to work, why should that person have to pay $20,000 a year to the mother? It is not like the kid gets the check from the AG. It goes to the mother and it is her choice on what is spent on the child. That twenty grand is pretty much a salary that osmeone like taht could live off of.

They need to refine the approach when figuring in someones amount they have to pay to make it more reasonable, as well as equal across the board. They also need to find a way to be able to keep records of where the child support money is going. That way they can keep track of what the custodial parent is buying with the money, and to see if it is actually going to the childs care or not.

Answer 10

Women do pay child support. I know a woman who had her three children taken from her and she pays child support and that is in Georgia. Your friend will end up going to jail eventually and that is where she deserves to be.

Answer 11

Okay, okay - I just have to jump in here. I have 2 children with my ex-husband. He helped bring these children in this world and he should be responsible for paying child support. Every single month, until they reach the age of 18. No excuses whatsoever!!! I have no choice but to support them. Why do I have to accept your choice to not pay support for a month? They are your children, you will find a way to pay their support every single month. Take out a loan, borrow it, I don't give a da**, just pay your support. I take care of my children in every way, physically and emotionally. My ex has no part in doing that, by his own choice. He was in the marriage until the oldest one was 16 years old and the youngest was 11. He knew those children and he took care of them during that time. It's not like they are in your life one day and out the next! Why is it that when the divorce happens, they think they have no more responsibility for the children. Wrong!!! You pay for their support, no matter what it takes. There are no VALID reaasons for not paying support. Every month, I pay for their support and I have no choice because they are living with me! I don't get that opportunity to say that I have a valid reason not to support them this month or next month or any time because money is tight or I need to buy something for myself, or I want to take a vacation, or I want to go out on a date, etc There is just NO reason that should ever come before your children! So, whatever your problem is, your children should always come first in your life, no matter what else life brings. I would never join your group. If you did not get custody of your children, there must have been a reason. Whether it was the judge's decision or the childrens. My children were allowed to decide who they wanted to live with. There was no question in their mind. They knew that I would take care of them, both physically and especially emotionally. So, what does that tell the father? That maybe he needs to step us his relationship with his children and not paying support for them because of a so called valid reason, doesn't cut it! Be a man, be responsible and pay that support before anything else - even your monthly bills. You brought them into this world, and unfortunately, THEY can take YOU out of it!