Having children of his own, President Obama is well aware of the ties that are found between a father and his babies, regardless of their age. A bond between father and child is uniquely different than that of the mother and child bond, because each parent plays a distinct role in their life. Sadly, with the divorce rates ever increasing in our society, in is not unheard of that many families are being separated as a result of their parents’ divorce. Obviously, not every couple is willing or able to stay together for a lifetime, things happen, people and life change. However, when it comes to a divorce, the children are still left with less time spent with either parent. Whether they are spending more time with mom, or more time with dad, one parent often times will feel as they are receiving the raw end of the stick.
When divorce and child custody cases go before the court, it is not uncommon for the mothers to be awarded primary custody over the children, and the dad be given the responsibility for child support. Though there is no set in stone method, this is the case in many family situations that are settled in court. Unfortunately for the fathers, many times they will be required to pay extremely large sums in child support payments, even if it means they have to sacrifice everything in order to do so. While the court system will always enforce that child support is being paid off, many fathers feel as though the system is neglecting the fact that child visitation ought to be enforced as well. Many mothers felt hat they have the right to refuse visitation for their child with the father, even though there was a legal agreement. Sadly, this will not lead to an arrest, though missing a child support payment will.
In his Father’s Day speech, President Obama addresses the very real fact that child support legislation needs to be changed, because far too many fathers are being deprived of their rights to have time with their children because of the tension between custody and support. While Obama said little else on this matter, it is safe to say that while there are some “dead beat dads” who simply neglect payments because they are drunks or lazy, this is not the case for every father. In fact, there are so many dads out there today who wish they could have more time with their children, and they neglect support because they are so restricted when it comes to time with family.
When child support is calculated, the court will take into consideration every facet of the person’s life as well as the needs of the children. However, what is so devastating is the fact that while it is the law a father make the payments (or a mother) to the other spouse for the child support, there is no law that states the parent must use the money on the kids. And when the father is faithful to make his payments, it does not mean in any way that he is given more time with the kids, or guaranteed the time he was already promised.
To understand what is so difficult about current custody laws, here is an example in the state of California which is considered a community property state. Here if a wife divorces her husband, they will do a 50/50 split of all marital assets and income (both his and hers). However, if she is also awarded child custody, the court will likely rule that she will receive about 40 percent of his current income to support the children and she will also be living off of the total 100 percent of her own personal income. While this is not always the case, especially when a wife who stayed at home is in need of support, there are many situations in which the father will receive a less than ideal part of the agreement.
Obama concluded his speech saying that the country cannot ignore any longer how “tax payer’s money is giving an incentive for divorce and creating too many children who don’t spend time with their fathers.” He claims that in our current society there are over 17 million children that remain fatherless, and as a result the likelihood of drug and alcohol abuse goes up, and both girls and boys are more prone to drop out of school, run away, get pregnant, get placed in jail or commit suicide.
To find out more information on child custody and support, find a family attorney in your area today!