Curious...

[jennieandjohn]

Why do father's have to pay child support to women who are well-and-able to work, but chose not to, and would rather sit back and collect from the government (ie foodstamps, Medicaid and cash assistance).

I am not against fathers paying child support, of course, but a reasonable amount would be nice, plus to a woman who USES IT ON HER CHILDREN, and not for her different habits (lottery/scratch tickets/ cigarettes/etc) . And why doesn't she have to work?!

My husband makes $715 a week, and pays $225 per week, for ONE CHILD (aged 13), leaving us with $490 a week to live on... and WE HAVE TWO CHILDREN TOGETHER (13 months and 5 years).

SHE MAKES MORE IN WELFARE IN A WEEK, THAN MY HUSBAND DOES BEFORE PAYING CHILD SUPPORT.

There is something seriously flawed in this. His ex sits back and does nothing, laughing her ass off at us, struggling.

Any takers?

- J

[4honor]

If the child is 13 what is she doing on welfare?

[jennieandjohn]

I don't have any idea how she got around it, and it hasn't come up in court.

What do you mean, though, can she not be on welfare after children are certain age?

[armycoppertop]

There is a reason I like the way NC determines child support... both mom and dad's income are computed, and if either is VOLUNTARILY UNDER or UNemployed, they compute based on average PRIOR income, taking into consideration job history, etc (like for me, I was voluntarily underemployed, because my ex and I agreed to me getting off active duty and being a reservist and agreed that my high school education would not land me a civilian job that would pay more than daycare expenses, and other than military, I have no real job history, so my income would have been kept at zero... whereas, my husband's ex has high school education, however, she has had multiple decent paying jobs working for the billing depts of hospitals, as well as in the food industry/coffee shops). But mom is expected to pay her fair share of expenses for the kids, not just live on welfare and child support.

[snowrose]

Unless the 13 year old has a disability there's no reason the mother can't work.  If she chooses not to work that's her choice and there's no reason you and your DH should over-pay due to it.  If it were me, I would ask for a change in child support and ask the court to impute a salary to her based on her previous wages and her qualifications.  Doing that should lower the child support your DH is paying.

[blh1013]

Hi J-
you're preaching to the choir - i realy like in a few states, they are creating the child support debit card, where dads pay child support to the office (either willingly or pulled from paycheck) and the support is issued onto a debit card/credit card. when you log onto the website for state's support, you log in and both parties can see where money is used.....i wish my state (MD) would implement this-- i'm so tired of hubby paying 305. pmon (was initally and error at 1100. pmon, which she collected for 9 months before we could get judge to fix it....and all this time, the school calls us saying the child is inappopropriately dressed (she leaves the goodwill price tags on) but has money for her nails to be done (she likes to rap them on table when we have to meet at various locations- school, dr's., court, etc) and she had cigaratte money, money to bail older son out of jail, bought new car, etc. if one party has problem with what is seen on the "bank statemnt", a claim can be filed to contest amount....example- if the state support statment shows liquor store, nail salon, etc. and dad argues, he can possibly have support reduced by the questioned amount (if successful)

When the error child support was being pulled, we almost had to declare bankruptcy, my hubbby was bringing in 3000 gross/ 2100 takehome, and her 1100 was auto-pulled, and with 1000 mortgage and ground rent, you see where we had to decide which bills to pay. but mommy had the funds to buy a brand new pt cruiser?