by Micheal Woodruff

Created on: June 11, 2010

Will there be enough to live off of once child support is deducted?  The courts don’t really care about that.  The calculation has to do with the gross monthly income of both parents and the non-custodial parent pays child support based on that calculation.  In some states, child support cannot exceed one-third of the non-custodial parent’s gross income.  However, after taxes and other deductions, this can reach to over half their net income.  In many cases, this doesn’t leave much to live off of.

Child support and visitation are not related.  The one is not a basis of the other.  When the non-custodial parent has the children on extended visitations they have to scrounge and scrape in order to feed them.  A two week visitation requires them to provide for the children while the custodial parent continues to receive their payments.  Is child support for the children or is it for the custodial parent?  If the former, then when the non-custodial parent has the children for extended times, they should be able to keep the money in order to provide for the children while they are in their care.  The latter seems to be truer in that even when the custodial parent does not have the responsibility of feeding and clothing the children they still receive the supplementary non-taxable income provided by the non-custodial parent.

There are non-custodial parents out there that do everything they can in order to make sure that child support is paid.  The courts don’t make a distinction between the one putting forth the effort and the one avoiding the responsibility.  A one who loses their job and has no way to pay child support often suffers more than the ones shirking their duties.  Jail time seems to be the penalty of choice for the financially stricken non-custodial parent and circumstances are not taken into consideration.

So what happens to the non-custodial parent, who has done their best, paid what the court ordered for years and then suddenly finds themselves on the wrong side of a job hunt with no income?  They have the luxury of facing jail time for their efforts.  They show up for court on the appointed day and if there is nothing to give financially its freedom that they take.  The child support expectations do not stop and when they get out they are faced not only with trying to find a job in an already difficult market but also having the blemish of

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