Deadbeat Dads-Why do so many fathers have so much in unpaid child support?

Answer 1

It has been maintained in the media, based on reports from state politicians, that most fathers refuse to pay child support, and that the over 90% of children are on Welfare because of this. The problem with these two beliefs are they are both false.

First, before even looking at how many children are on Welfare because their fathers aren't paying child support, one might take note of Census Bureau stats that shows 20% of children on Welfare are a part of INTACT FAMILIES, where the parents do not have the training for good paying jobs, or are disable due to injury or illness. How do you get 90% when 20% have their fathers and mothers living with them? From there, I give you, Judge David Grey Ross, Commissioner of the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement.

At a Conference for the Children's Rights Council,he stated that a majority of fathers paid their Court Ordered regularly. In the latest Censusreport for 2005, it's 77.4%. Soon after making that comment, he was replaced. How could the head of the agency that oversees all Child Support Enforcementprograms in the nation make a statement that so contradicts the media reports? Because he had access to the real facts, though they were politically incorrect.

So, how does a father get $80,000 or more behind in child support, if he's making his payments? There can be a few causes.

• He may have been paying all along, but voluntarily, and without a court. Meanwhile, the mother is collecting Welfare, without telling them that not only does she know who and where the father is, but also that she's been getting child support from him. When push comes to shove, and she does identify him, they go after him for retroactive child support instead of punishing her for not reporting it. Anything he's given her is considered a gift.

• He's paying child support, but irritates her in some manner, than she files for retroactive child support, in the same manner Welfare does.

• In 1995, a Navy Commander was cashing a check (not many ATMs back than) and found the Family Checking, as well as Saving Accounts frozen. When he asked why, he was told it was by order of Child Support Enforcementbecause he owed $85,000 in child support arrears. The bank teller calls him a deadbeat dad.

Now the problem with that is he's married with four boys at home, so there has to be a mistake, and they have the wrong person. They didn't. He learned he had a 16-year-old daughter by a woman he had dated back in college. He remembered that she had suddenly quit school, moved back home with her parents, and refused to talk to him ever again, so he gave up, and got on with his life. Now, 16 years later, he learns that he has daughter, and wants support for the whole time period in between, plus interest.

His appeals cost him over $25,000, only to lose. That had already drained the family savings, his retirement fund, the boys college funds, and taken the family home. He had to move his family into a two-bedroom apartment on base and his wife had to go to work to pay bills that he could no longer pay because 55% of his gross income has been attached to pay any remaining balance owed. To add insult to injury, 20% of his wife's income, was also added to the calculations for child support. The total of arrears was based on a two-year average income, and not what he earned each of those 16 years.

• On a worse case scenario, a divorcing Michiganfather filed for custody of his 15-year-old daughter. It was denied when the mother showed that he was not the father of the girl. But, this prevented her from getting child support from him. As a result, she had to file against the bio-dad, and under Michigan law, you can wait up to 23-years to file for retroactive child support. She was awarded 15-years retroactive child support, despite the fact that her husband had supported the child for all those years. The order was upheld on appeal, despite this, and the fact that she had got pregnant when she was molesting him at age 11. He was ordered to pay for getting an adult woman pregnant.

Judge Ross cited this case in a summary opposing retroactive child support awards, which may have affected his decision to finally resign his position.

Going by news reports, quoting self serving politicians, on child support, is never a good way to get the fact on this issue. The states get 15% in Federal Matching Funds for all child support owed, so it is in their best interest to inflate the numbers. In states like Missouri, death is not considered justification for not paying child support, so arrears continue to accumulate and are shown as owed. Missouri law requires fathers to carry insurance to cover the payments in the event of death, but when money gets tight, the insurance is not kept up.

One final thought . All levels of government are notoriously for their poor accounting habit. Florida often claims it never received the child support collected by another state and sent to them. As a result, they claim they are owed it by a deadbeat dad.