Child Support Laws

Child support law falls under family law and deals with issues regarding money. Child support laws require a parent that does not have custody of their child to pay a monthly amounted child support. This amount is usually based on a persons income and differs person to person and state to state. This law encourages parents to take responsibility for their children and also keeps people from using government assistance. Many times child support laws require that a parent be incarcerated for failing to provide child support to the parent that has custody of their child. A parent can be sentenced to jail time for up to six months, and are still responsible for the amount owed added to what they must pay in the future. Child support law requires that a parent pay child support for up to eighteen years until the child is officially of legal age to take care of themselves. Child support laws do not make exceptions if a parent is unemployed, filing bankruptcy, or even homeless, they are required to pay and the child support laws are enforced to the fullest extent if they don’t. The state has the right to suspend a parents driver’s license and any business license that they may have. This usually occurs for a period of up to thirty days or longer if this persists. Child support law is very strict and can ruin a families life. A parent will be charged with a felony offense if they fail to obey the law. This offense is placed on the record of the parent and can keep them from gaining employment anywhere. Child support laws create chaos in a persons life very quickly.

Another important aspect of child support is that of contact. Physical contact and interaction is just as important in child support law to ensure that the child is raised properly. Many times states will require that along with paying a monthly amount of money, the parent must visit the child a certain amount of time each month as well. This relieves the parent that does have custody and goes along with joint custody proceedings. Research shows that in most cases, the father is paying child support to the mother in a given situation. This is so because the child custody laws currently favor women, making them the parent with custody. Child support law is effective in ensuring that a child gets all the needed support and finances necessary to live healthy and safely. These laws also work out well for the state in that they lower budget costs each year in programs life welfare, WIC, and section eight. Also, it keeps tax payers from having to foot the bill for dead beat parents who choose to not take care of their child. Every state reserves the right to monitor each situation as they see fit and on a conditional basis each time. The most important this to remember is the child support laws are meant to keep the child first in everyone mind.