Child support/Alimony

RegretlessStrike · 2013-08-26T20:13:21+00:00

Cap child support both as a percentage of income and in terms of absolute dollars.

It only takes so much to raise a child. Even if the father is a multimillionaire, it doesn't take 600,000 a year to raise a child. And if a man only makes 400 a week, 100 of that shouldn't be going to child support. You can't live in 300 a week.

Juan_Golt · 2013-08-26T21:57:56+00:00

Abolish alimony. It's a throwback from when a husband made career decisions for his wife.

Child support: Child support issues are better solved with fairer custody/visitation decisions. Most of the egregious abuses take place in the 'imputed income' areas, so I'd tune that area to be more formulaic and less up to a judges opinion.

Hodor_Frey · 2013-08-26T21:48:49+00:00

Alimony. Except in cases of permanent, total spousal disability, limit alimony to no more than five years and to the lesser of a certain percentage of income or a set dollar amount. Only provide alimony in cases where it is agreed to in a valid, antenuptial or postnuptial contract. (The reason to do this is so that one parent cannot force the other to support them via alimony after reneging on a promise to go back to work after a child is born.) Further restrict the alimony on a statutory basis to situations where the recipient receives (or could receive if employed "full-time") less than a certain multiple of the federal poverty guidelines. In cases of permanent, total spousal disability, permit permanent alimony to offset the cost of social services so long as the payor is above a certain multiple of the federal poverty guidelines and stops cohabitating with the payee.

Child support.

At the federal level, remove all Title 4 tie-ins with child support. Make child support tax deductible "above-the-line" and continue to exclude it from the gross income of the payee. Mandate IRS information-reporting to the state attorneys general for automatic adjustment of child support amounts.
At the state level,

A. Base child support on the net income of both parents and use it to fund a branded debit card (like Visa) with restrictions on purchases just like medical FSA debit cards. Issue these cards to both parents with limits pro-rated based on prescribed custody/access/visitation. Child support would be capped based on the lesser of percentage of income or some multiple of the federal poverty guidelines. Basing child support on net income (Form W-2 Box 1 wages) allows parents to meet savings and medical care goals and should lower the cost of state social services.

B. Where custody approaches 50-50, (above at least 33% or maybe 40%), issue monthly checks (from child support payments) to both parents for the marginal cost of obtaining a separate room(s) for the child(ren) (provided the children have a separate room). In all other cases, issue a monthly check to the parent with primary custody for the marginal cost of a separate room (provided there is one).

C. Mandate paternity testing in any child support proceeding and the forgiveness of child support arrears in cases of false paternity. Mandate repayment of prior child support on clear and convincing evidence of paternity fraud.

D. Mandate 50-50 joint custody and access/possession in all cases except upon clear and convincing evidence that it would not be in the child's best interests. This prevents child support from acting as alimony by forcing the parents to be considered equals before the law.

E. Prohibit child support payments from (or custody being granted to) the mother where the mother rapes the father, statutory or otherwise.

rightsbot · 2013-08-26T18:56:17+00:00

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Mediumtim · 2013-08-26T19:45:32+00:00

standards for custody
limits on amount of money
opt-out option in case of paternity fraud

Define clear, objective standards to be used in determining custody (employment history, involvement in the child's life, living environment, ...)

Limit the amount of child support to A not send the paying party into poverty, B only have to match up to the living standards of a low income family. Child support cannot be demanded from minors, from victims of (statutory) rape. Retroactive child support can only be claimed up to one year in the past.

In case a man is not the father and did not make the informed decision to raise the child as his own, he gets to walk away. Full relinquishment of all rights and obligations.

womblefish · 2013-08-27T01:57:33+00:00

Child support should be capped at a maximum of $400/month per child.

That's still more than most government departments/agencies estimate it costs to raise a child.

What's interesting is the effect this would have on custody arrangements. Currently child support is taken from the non-custodial parent by force (or threat of force), the custodial parent has no incentive to agree to a more even custody arrangement, they have no incentive to honor custody agreements. The current system creates a massive power imbalance that overwhelmingly favors the custodial parent.

If non-custodial parents were only forced to pay a bare minimum, and any additional financial support were entirely at their discretion, negotiating fair and reasonable visitation would be a lot easier.

Alimony should only be applied when one spouse has stayed at home, it should last up to half the length of the marriage, for a maximum of 5 years. And it should be no more than one third of the payers income.

Title	Child support/Alimony
Author	RegretlessStrike
Upvotes	6
Comments	18
Date	August 26, 2013 6:55 PM UTC (12 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/1l4u2q/child_supportalimony/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/child-supportalimony.1165417 https://theredarchive.com/post/1165417

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