Child Support – Why Don’t People Pay…
Attorneys, judges and mediators have a daunting job; to make sure that the needs of the child/children of divorce are met AND that it is fair and equitable to both parents. One of the goals for the child support process is to make sure that final child support order, no matter if it’s the guideline of the state or a deviation, is decided up and agreed to by both parents. The buy-in, especially from the payer is the key to avoiding the question of why people don’t pay support.
Why is support not paid? I believe it’s because the paying parent doesn’t see the value in it and why it’s needed. The paying parent looks at it as having to work extra hard to pay for something they don’t agree with or was told by a judge they most do. There is no consideration for what the child needs and how it would benefit the child. Even in an amicable divorce, child support can become an issue. The payer provides a determined amount of support and has no say in how it is used – to many this is strong motivation to not pay support. Non-payment of support can be due to economic difficulty but more times than not due to the lack of buy-in for the support order. Mediators may be useful in helping to break down the original order and help to modify the order so the needs of the child are met. If all parties work toward a modification, there is a better chance that a modified, mutually agreed on order would be paid on a timely and consistent basis. Unfortunately, how the funds are spent is an area that may still not be addressed.
The sad fact is that no matter what you do to ensure that both parents are in agreement of a child support amount, there are always going to be parents who do not pay. The only way to try and enforce this would be to take the non-paying parent to court and have a judge deal with it. A parent who has no sense of right or wrong will not think twice about using the children as a pawn in the support game. This has long lasting effects on the child and the relationship between parent and child.
If you need help collecting your child support, contact us and see if we can help. If we can’t help, we’ll steer you in the right direction for who may be able to assist!