Yes but they tend to adopt other state’s policies; especially BLUE states as “progressive.” Also there are federal INCENTIVES for the highest amount of CS collected. So, for example, in NYS, if a father gets downsized in this economy, he can do an exercise in futility called going to court and filing for a downward modification. Which will take about three months to get on most court calendars. At that time a preliminary hearing will result and it will often be between 9 and 12 months before a downward mod is even considered.
That whole time the original CS amount from when he was employed continues to tick away on the meter and automatically puts him in arrears with penalties and interest should he not be able to have gainful employment almost immediately.
Downward mods are usually denied even though there is a substantial loss of income on the payors side (if said payor is a white male in particular; all other “classes” usually get cut a break).
My hubby pays $1000 a month (no arrears—he has never missed a penny)to his ex wife and earns $15 an hour. After NYS outrageous taxes, he’s lucky to bring home $200 a week and this will continue, under the age 26 guidelines, for the next 17 years—at which time he will be 61 years old. In the meantime she has remarried a guy who makes 80K a year and she earns more than my hubby does. I earn slightly more than his ex-wife.
I have been pointing out the evils of child support/family court power for years, I know two father friends whose lives were ruined when their wife/wives ran off with their kids to another state, and the other another country, then successful sued them for child support for kids who were basically kidnapped from them.
There is no justice or Due Process. In Maryland they suspend the fathers license over CS then arrest them for driving to the courthouse for hearings, or arrest them for not showing up at the court house for hearings.
I got fed up with Judge Judy because she is obsessed with CS.
Or the court puts a man in jail for “contempt”. Been there, done that. After a heart attack and a failed business and a daughter who was living with me but whose mother insisted on the $500 a month to subsidize the SS “disability” she receives, not to mention the additional $200 a month she was getting for having a “minor child”. They do make it impossible to get a reduction and I did continue to pay the $250 a month I could afford, but it made no difference. It took me 96 days (on a 180 day sentence) to borrow enough money and get a hearing to get out of jail. I have the e-mail from the prosecutor confirming that I owe nothing and I will never delete it. It is admissible as evidence if ever needed.