Posted on 09/12/2011 6:56:00 AM PDT by PieterCasparzen
It may not be a crime to be poor, but it can land you behind bars if you also are behind on your child-support payments.
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Thousands of so-called “deadbeat” parents are jailed each year in the U.S. after failing to pay court-ordered child support — the vast majority of them for withholding or hiding money out of spite or a feeling that they’ve been unfairly gouged by the courts.
But in what might seem like an un-American plot twist from a Charles Dickens’ novel, advocates for the poor say, some parents are wrongly being locked away without any regard for their ability to pay — sometimes without the benefit of legal representation.
Randy Miller, a 39-year-old Iraqi war vet, found himself in that situation in November, when a judge in Floyd County, Ga., sent him to jail for violating a court order to pay child support.
He said he was stunned when the judge rebuffed his argument that he had made regular payments for more than a decade before losing his job in July 2009 and had recently resumed working.
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(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Why the h* did you name your kids “Prince Michael” and “Blanket”?
The big problem is the government bureaucracy, one-size-fits-all, boondoggle that drags down those with legitimate reasons along with the real deadbeats. Government needs to be out of the child support business, unless invited, or the mothers or fathers involved are getting government subsidies.
Just a thought. When I travel, I have to keep receipts for my meals, airfare and any other expenses I incurr. When I file my taxes, I have to provide receipts for any deductions I want to claim.
Yet, if I'm a divorced woman with 'x' kids - I can demand child support - and do NOT have to provide any receipts on how the child support was spent. Nada, nothing .... If my ex- either re-marries, or gets a better job; I can file for a child-support ammendment (always more, never less) to include the income of his new spouse - or due to a promotion that the ex- had absolutely no contribution for.
I'm sure you can find plenty of examples where it's alleged that child support is being spent on things, other than child related.
Let’s see, did this genius by any chance have an affair while married? God will not be mocked.
Good advice, except that his wife is the problem.
Why the h* did you name your kids “Prince Michael” and “Blanket”?
______________
Because the alternatives were “Barack” and “Hussein.”
“We badly need divorce reform in this country, no doubt. Divorce without cause is WRONG. Divorce is wrong. And kids do the majority of suffering.”
I agree, AMEN.
However,
“That being said, mid life crisis causes males to act like idiots. The statistics about women wanting most of the divorces don’t reflect how many marriages are destroyed because of rutting by aging males. The males may not file for the divorce because they want their cake and eat it too, bu the women want the pain to end. Still, divorce is NEVER the answer and divorce lawyers are akin to abortionists.”
STEREOTYPICAL... Leave gender out of it cuz it goes both ways more often than statistics lead you to believe.
—FWIW, I’d advised him to disappear and flee to another country...—
This. If the woman files for a “no fault” divorce and there are very young children involved, I would strongly recommend fleeing to another country. It may appear to be a “from the frying pan to the fire” sort of thing, but you have no idea just how screwed up your life can get when she uses the kids against you.
To give you a hint, I knew of one guy that spent $100,000 defending himself against preposterous accusations from his ex that he sexually molested his own children. Of course there was no proof. In family court the wife only has to make the claim in hopes of getting more money/autonomy.
Oh, and he won. But do you think it leaves a scar on everyone touched? And do you think there are any people who still think he “did it”?
...but for god’s sake, quit whining and pay for your kids.
Just a thought. When I travel, I have to keep receipts for my meals, airfare and any other expenses I incurr. When I file my taxes, I have to provide receipts for any deductions I want to claim.
Yet, if I’m a divorced woman with ‘x’ kids - I can demand child support - and do NOT have to provide any receipts on how the child support was spent. Nada, nothing .... If my ex- either re-marries, or gets a better job; I can file for a child-support ammendment (always more, never less) to include the income of his new spouse - or due to a promotion that the ex- had absolutely no contribution for.
I’m sure you can find plenty of examples where it’s alleged that child support is being spent on things, other than child related.
____________________
No doubt, there should be an accounting. And as many freepers have noted, the system IS stacked against the father, and reform is needed.
—That being said, mid life crisis causes males to act like idiots.—
It can, but it didn’t with me. It did cause my ex to act like an idiot though. She decided she would like to try things out without me and ended a marriage over it. With several teen and pre-teen kids.
The rutting is the lesser of the evils.
That is not true, especially when she has been the primary caregiver and has sacrificed her career to make a home for him and the kids. I have seen these poor ladies at age 55, the husband goes for Trixie LaRue and the wife and teenagers are lost, emotionally devastated and then hubby says “Get a job”
That's all.
Dashing out at 16 to bear children; purchasing a home beyond your means instead of renting or living in a modest home until you can AFFORD the one you want; using credit cards to the max; refusing to save, etc. ... these are ill-advised.
Most of the young people I know who are in trouble and the adults I know who are struggling... have done this kind of thing with their finances. They do NOT discipline themselves, they do NOT deny themselves a thing.
Trouble is coming ... you STILL take a vacation? You STILL replace your car? You STILL use your charge card for all and sundry? You STILL remodel your kitchen?
He&^ I'd be hurting too if I was so reckless and selfish.
Sounds like you “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’
You DO realize the man has no say if the woman wants divorce for any reason she gets it.
Just like if a man and a woman have sex and a child is conceived the woman has sole and total power to kill the child until its birth;and even afterwards the courts will be lenient to a woman who kills the child “becuase of emotional stress” or some other such BS.
The “feminists” have pretty well succeeded in destroying the American family and thus the foundation of this nation.
Just wait until those feminists experience the joys of sharia law .
I honestly do not know. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. What does that have to do with anything? He worked, she did not. He had a career, she did not; she kicked him out and moved her boyfriend in. He got the housepayments, car payment, debt and now pays child support for a kid that he 'sometimes' gets to see. She has a past of drug abuse, and has been involuntarily committed for mental issues. Yet, the judge gave her custody. No justice in Dripping Springs, TX - at least for fathers.
It's amazing how frequently his visits get cancelled at the last second, because "something came up". You do not have to talk to very many people to find dozens of similar stories.
I have one friend who was divorced, and had a kid.
Your point is what annoyed him the most. He was certain that the money he paid was going to cigarettes and beer. Meanwhile, when his daughter came to stay with him, she'd eat him out of house and home, he'd handle all of the clothes shopping, back to school shopping, and so on and so on. Fortunately, he (and his new wife) could afford it.
He didn't begrudge a penny of help to his daughter. Buying his ex-'s current boyfriend booze and Marlboros, though, really really bothered him.
Fortunately, the kid turned out OK. She wound up living with my buddy pretty much full time, and is headed out to college this year. Realizing that your mother is a complete trainwreck must be a pretty tough thing to come to grips with, though.
And now she makes 300K? that doesn’t sound like a drug abusing nut case to me
“Oh, and he won. But do you think it leaves a scar on everyone touched? And do you think there are any people who still think he “did it”?”
Exactly! That’s why I recommended that he flee or if he does want to try the divorce route, claim he’s gay. Those are the only two options I see.
He’s a white male with two children in MA; can you say FUBAR?
—Now, add to that, the husband will be forced to pay her money until her last child is over 18 - by payroll deduction—
Haha! That’s funny. You forgot to add college tuition into their 20’s.
That’s right. If you are married to the mother, the two of you can come to agreement (or not) and you can choose whether or not your child is college material, deserves it, etc. It’s your choice.
But if you are divorced, you don’t have the choice. She can take you to court and the court can REQUIRE you to pay for the child’s school AND continue paying child support to your ex for many years past 18.
Like I said before, if she is vindictive, your best option is to leave the country. No joke.
It’s not and you shouldn’t. You won. You devastated her. hope you are happy. You got it all.
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