new child support laws 2010

[shanta532]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? my case is in TN / live in GA

I've been told that effective 1/1/2010 there is going to be a new law where non custodial parents who do not pay their child support will no longer be arrested ?

 

[Ohiogal]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? my case is in TN / live in GA

I've been told that effective 1/1/2010 there is going to be a new law where non custodial parents who do not pay their child support will no longer be arrested ?

Um okay. Who told you that? Are the CP or NCP?

 

[shanta532]

new law 2010

I'm CP my father in law told me that president obama would be passing a new law

 

[LdiJ]

I'm CP my father in law told me that president obama would be passing a new law

I sincerely doubt that's going to happen. For one thing, Obama cannot pass any laws at all, he can only sign off on laws passed by Congress, and there has been nothing to indicate that Congress intends to relax child support enforcement legislation. In addition child support is a state issue. The federal goverment can pass "suggested" legislation and recommend that the states adopt it (and even give incentives for the states to adopt it) but that's all.

Ask your father in law exactly WHERE he got that information, and then come back and tell us, and we will check it out.

 

[CasualObserver]

Through Title IV-D the feds can dictate pretty much anything they want regarding child support to the states. Of course, a state is free to ignore it. But in doing so they would forfeit a significant source of funding, so it's unlikely to say the least. I was quite surprised to see Cali adopt a compromise of arrears program (limited in scope as it is) at the risk of the feds holding them in violation of the Bradley amendment.

While I doubt what the OP is referring to is actual state law, it is unsurprising that more and more jurisdicitions are moving away from expensive (and ineffective) punitive measures like jailing child support debtors. In this economy there simply isn't a lot of room in the budget to jail people over minor civil matters.

 

[waitinMd]

i doubt you get many people voting that neglect to pay child support is a minor civil matter.

I think there should be stricker rules in some cases for non payers and under certain circumstances a longer period of time to collect.

 

[LdiJ]

Through Title IV-D the feds can dictate pretty much anything they want regarding child support to the states. Of course, a state is free to ignore it. But in doing so they would forfeit a significant source of funding, so it's unlikely to say the least. I was quite surprised to see Cali adopt a compromise of arrears program (limited in scope as it is) at the risk of the feds holding them in violation of the Bradley amendment.

While I doubt what the OP is referring to is actual state law, it is unsurprising that more and more jurisdicitions are moving away from expensive (and ineffective) punitive measures like jailing child support debtors. In this economy there simply isn't a lot of room in the budget to jail people over minor civil matters.

I don't doubt at all that states are trying to come up with more effective and creative ways to ensure compliance with child support...including abating some arrearages so that it doesn't seem so impossible for a non compliant parent to become compliant. I cannot imagine however, that any state would completely abolish the option of jailing a parent because there are always going to be extreme cases that will require that option.

However, this parent said that his/her father in law stated that Obama was creating a new law that would be in place by 1/1/2010. That cannot possibly be true...and if it was, a state would have to adopt that law.

 

[CasualObserver]

Well, if states would simply follow the advice the Office of Child Support Enforcement: set reasonable and realistic child support orders, you'd see greater compliance. Of course, the US has a fairly long history of passing extreme meausres and reforming them over time. The ramp up starting with Republican welfare reform of the mid-90's has created a certain legal environment. That environment is often unrealistic to the conditions many working Americans face, and frankly is overly punitive. The current economic recession is simply putting a spotlight on the problems of modern child support policy, that were previously ignored since they primarily affected poor men and minorities.

Will there always be a punitive measure of jail on the books for child support? I don't know, it has some issues. Dressed up as comtempt or not, you're walking on a fine constitutional line when throwing people in jail for civil debts. There are, no doubt, numerous family court abuses in which judges ulitlize civil contempt when they know there is no willful violation of a court order. The logic of the punitive measure fails. The debtor certainly will earn no income while being held in jail, the child support arrearage will merely increase, and the expense of jailing an individual is exceptionally high. The US is currently holding more people in jails than China. That's not a per cap either. Given the recession and the existing desire for prison/court reform I could certain see, in the near future, a time when a little more thought is put into whether sending an individual to jail for minor issues like child support or simple possession is actually worth the cost to soceity.

 

[TheGeekess]

The US is currently holding more people in jails than China. That's not a per cap either.

That's because in China you don't wait 30 years for execution after a death sentence passed by the court.

And who on earth would trust any kind of statistics out of China? It's in that country's best interests to lie about numbers.

 

[CasualObserver]

That's because in China you don't wait 30 years for execution after a death sentence passed by the court.

And who on earth would trust any kind of statistics out of China? It's in that country's best interests to lie about numbers.

Wow, I can't say I've ever seen such a text book red herring. Even if you don't "trust" the figures given, there is absolutely no doubt that the US is leading the world in the size of it's prison population. As such, the point stands: we have a hell of a lot people in prison, and a lot of them are there for relatively minor offenses. It costs us a lot of money to keep that many people in prison. At some point we have to ask ourselves: is it sane to spend ~$30k a year to keep some guy in jail for minor offenses.