BROKEN, OR WORKING AS PLANNED? Child support system broken.

Under new “Presumptive Child Support” (PCS) guidelines, raising children can be quite profitable. The amount of child support is presumed, without considering the needs of the non-custodial parent or child, and it exceeds what most intact families spend on their children. While the father’s share of support is taken from him, these laws presume the mother will voluntarily contribute her presumed share and is spending the father’s share only on the children. . . .

The premise is that a child’s standard of living should not change after divorce, even if household expenses do. There is no minimum standard of living for a working father. I know of a woman with three children by three airline pilots. She doesn’t work. She lives on $75,000 a year of tax-free “child” support. . . . Another lives a comfortable life with her new high-earning spouse and uses the child support to buy herself shoes.

Bankrupt debtors have more rights under our legal system than a father without primary custody. Ongoing child support frequently exceeds the maximum wage garnishment that any creditor can impose. . . .

Children notice a difference between Mom’s house and Dad’s house and prefer to spend time in the house with the money. As they complain to their father that “it’s more fun at Mom’s house,” a father begins to view his ungrateful children as large and unsatisfying debts.