Featured News 2013 Fathers’ Rights: Disparity of Child Support and Custody Enforcement

Fathers’ Rights: Disparity of Child Support and Custody Enforcement

First off, child support is something that is determined on by the court who is handling a divorce preceding spouses. It is the predetermined amount of financial support that tone spouse will pay to the other in order to help raise their children and provide for their daily needs. The person who is generally given the responsibility to make these payments is the parent who has non-custodial custody over the kids. This means that while they may spend time with the kids, they are not responsible for their every need such as food, clothing, school, health, etc. because of this; the non-custodial parent will pay a set amount of money to the custodial parent in order to provide the child with the living environment they need to grow up. Both mother or father can be given the responsibility to make these payments, it entirely depends on who has the majority of the time with the children overall.

Child custody enforcement is then something that the state does in order to regulate that the terms defined by the court for the custody of children are followed. This would include shared custody, visitation rights, etc. However, one writer with the Huffington Post addresses a very real concern with the "system" in regards to the wellbeing of the children and enforcing child support and custody enforcement. He notes that the way the state regulates parents who are not paying their child support is very drastic. In most cases according to statistics, 87.1% of child support payers are fathers, and 82.6% of them were given the non-custodial parent standing in regards to custody.

This author notes that there is quiet a disparity between these two very important aspects of divorce and child custody, namely because as the law enforcement officials highly regulate and punish those who are late on their payments, they very rarely take any action when a parent dies the other parent the time to spend with their kids as agreed in their visitation statement. He claims that the financial obligations that a parent has is even more important than the emotional attachments that may exists.

When a parent (in most cases a father, though not always) fails to pay their child support for three consecutive months, they risk the possibility of having their driving privileges taken away, there is a chance that they will have a lien placed on their property or their car will be repossessed or even have a federal income tax refund intercepted; in rare cases jail is also a possibility. Law enforcement officials act swiftly on this matter, and yet when it comes to child custody enforcement, they are quiet a stark contrast.

However, let's say that same father's ex-wife is depriving him of his court given right to spend time with the kids. In the custody arrangement, it was decided that he would be able to spend every other Saturday with them; and yet when he approaches his ex' home she says that he can't see them because they are busy. This regularly happens to this man, and though he wants to call the local authorities, there is nothing they can do to help enforce these visitation rights. And even contacting a custody and visitation agency can be a long winded process. Sadly, fathers right in divorces are often the ones that are least considered in many cases, and as the tides are changing for woman's rights, so are the views on parenting and marriage.

If you have been divorced or are considering a divorce, contact a family lawyer in your area today to help you fight for your rights as a father!

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