Revamp the Child Support & Family Court Process

Rethink all court child support policies & procedures. I know many Men in NJ & NY area who are broke and depressed b/c of the NJ/NY Family Court Policies and Procedures. I am assuming it is very similar in other states.

The calculation is done at the Paycheck Gross Level therefore, taking more and leaving the man with a lot less to survive. It is also calculated on what the man makes instead of the true needs of the child. The higher-than-should-be child support weekly withdrawal amount eventually takes it’s mental toll on the man. As the cost of living increases while his paycheck increases at a lesser amount.

Audit the Mother’s spend. I know many mother’s who spend the child support on themselves and not on their children per se. The children eventually pick up on this and as they get older they resent their mother. Many kids harbor anger issues b/c the Mother is spending the money on getting their nails/hair done while the child does not get the toy they wanted and their Dad is depressed and struggling.

The Family Courts in NJ require a session with a mediator and the mediator only asks specific court appointed questions that do not apply to the Husband/Wife’s current situation. Both Spouses are required to attend and pay for it. I have not heard of one situation where it worked. Both the Husband and Wife leave there pissed off.

To get in touch with your probation officer you have to call and leave a message with a person who will take your information and have your probation officer call you back. Most of the time it takes weeks or they never call you back. Also, I have never seen so many probation officers who get covid they are out for 3 weeks and then they definitely do not call you back. You go back to the bottom of the list.

The probation officers treat people like they are peasants. They are cold and rude. Given the already stressful situation, we need people who are professional and supportive who are not reading from a script. They need learn how to treat another human.

The child support paperwork is too cumbersome. We do not need to have the paperwork to be filled out in such a way if a certain box is not checked the man has to go back home and fill out the paperwork all over again. All court systems are guilty of this and it is shameful.

I believe we can implement a grading system on the probation officers. Not a survey, but a grading system where the State needs to address when a probation officer goes below a threshold, they hold the probation officer accountable which includes pay cuts, suspension and their ultimately their job.

Regarding the child support money itself, Does there need to be weekly payment withdrawals? I believe the All Caps name in which the Family Court is built on has already received payments from the bonds that were traded fraudulently against our lives and work ethic? This is a framework where WE THE PEOPLE need to be both educated and compensated on.

The ultimate prevention to family court is proper education of the Black Law and what marrying really represents. You are taking on your current Resident State (NJ, NY, PA… ) as a partner and when you decided to end your marriage they are the party who really makes out. I think people should be educated on other ways of creating a union/marriage. One of them being, swear on a Bible or a book of your choice, create an affidavit with witnesses, record it with your local county or at the state level. I believe this is a major step in developing a child so both Parents are fully educated and agree on how to co-parent whether married or not.

No parent should have to answer to a Court under pressure on a weekly basis.

#familycourt
Liberty
Economy
Peace

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I have been through this system and I agree that the child support system is severely flawed, but it also hurts mothers and children as well. I wanted to add my “quick” thoughts and ideas:

Here’s the worst example of the child support system: Primary custodial mothers can be ordered to pay the deadbeat dad child support, if she makes more income than him. I currently have 65% custody (after he repeatedly took me back to court to cut away from the previous custody agreement we had) and he has stopped working since about 6 years ago. I could be ordered to pay HIM $800-$1000 child support. (Right now, the child support case is closed. He used that threat, as well as the threat of continued litigation abuse, to force me to close the child support case and to agree to a marital separation agreement more favorable to him.)

I’m actually terrified of the idea that he could take me to child support court. He actually acts like he’s doing me a favor for not demanding child support. Again, he is the non-custodial parent, with a history of abuse, and only gained more custody because he repeatedly took me back to family court as a response to me having filed the child support application. He uses these threats to remain close to me, and manipulate, as part of his campaign of coercive control. Here, I put myself through college and got a decent job because I thought that the financial independence would protect me from deadbeats like him. Instead, I feel trapped, and that I don’t have true freedom in my life, and can’t even think about what I “want” because there’s no viable options for me on the table.

From the perspective of the primary caretaker/mother, I listed additional screwed up things about the child support system, on pages 4-6 and 13-14 on this google doc:

Also, as both a child of a deadbeat dad, and a wife of a deadbeat dad (who loves his kids & has regular visitation time), I do agree that the child support agencies should find a more effective way at enforcing the child support. They shouldn’t be revoking driver’s licenses so loosely, or for indefinite periods of time, because that not only prevents him from working, but it also prevents him from picking up his kids. I don’t agree with the threat of jail-time for lack of child support. I’m not sure if child support debt shows on credit reports? But if it does, I oppose that idea as well. It’s just overkill, lazy and I think just makes things worse.

I agree that no parent should be ordered to pay super-high amounts, but I also think that there should be a set minimum amount ordered. If the child support system were simplified, it would save everyone a lot of stress, fighting and legal fees.

I personally suggest that we do away with the concept of parenting time-share percentages, and that there should be a federal set minimum, and a federal cap, on the child support to be ordered, such that a judge can only order something in between that. Allowing calculations of time-share percentages typically just causes anti-child support dads to go into a litigation frenzy, just to change percentage points, even if he has no intention of actually spending more quality parenting time with the child. In addition, for most moms, being the primary caretaker is so deeply tied to our personal identity, that removing that identity from us via 50/50 feels like a threat not just to our identity, but our ability to do our job to effectively mother our children and adequately prepare them for life. Additionally, 50/50 is harmful for young children and babies, because they have a developmental needs for their primary attachment figure, and for routine. Overall, tying child support to time-share percentages compels parents to care more about the percentage, than they do about what the best schedule is for their kids and family overall.

I suggest that one parent is simply marked as the residential parent (to determine the school district, where the child primarily sleeps, who is the primary attachment figure, who makes final child-care/school decisions).

The minimum child support should, perhaps, be the housing portion of the local MBSAC levels that Cash Aid is based on. These levels differ by county and states because of cost-of-living. The maximum child support limit that the recipient should be allowed to receive, perhaps should be the MBSAC level for housing, utilities, food and clothing. The judge could order something in between.

While I wish that child support agencies had more effective collection practices, I would say that if the non-residential parent has financial difficulties paying, then he should be eligible for a pause on the collection efforts. The debt shouldn’t go on credit reports; he shouldn’t go to jail for it; there must be guardrails against the use of revoking his driver’s license.

This google doc has a screen shot of the MBSAC levels for San Diego County, CA, as a reference: