Tag Archive for: income

Proposed change in child custody and support law

A Wisconsin state legislator has sponsored a bill that would establish custody parity between divorcing parents in that state. Assembly Bill 540 would establish a presumption that equal custody between parents is the best situation for children. The bill also contains changes that impact child support, such as the counting of health insurance premium payments as part of support payments and the cut-off of the amount of income subject to support at $150,000. There is a provision for revision of ordered support in the event that the payor suffers a reduction in income as well.

One family law attorney stated that under the proposed law parents may still make their own arrangements and that the court will not insist on equal custody when there are serious issues with either the mother or father. He also expressed regret that people are legally bound to ordered support amounts that are difficult to pay sometimes due to unforeseen circumstances. Fathers also may have difficulty obtaining equal custody at times and must engage in expensive litigation to obtain parental rights.

Another family law attorney disagreed, characterizing the bill as not being tailored specifically to each case. She also took issue with the inclusion of insurance premium payments in support and the capping of income subject to support, opining that a child should share in the good luck of a parent making an increased income.

The proposed bill does not force family courts to order equal custody but does require that they make the effort when possible. Child custody disputes and divorce can be emotional and adversarial at times. However, the best interests of the child require that parental rights be carefully considered.

Source: WKOV, “GOP bill would change WI child custody, support laws“, Greg Neumann, December 09, 2013

How income affects Milwaukee child support

Child support payments are designed to ensure that a custodial parent in Milwaukee has the funds necessary to pay for a child’s needs and care. However, there is a growing concern that the support system in America is inherently flawed. The concern is that people have children with wealthy partners not because they want children but because there is a financial incentive to do so. It is claimed that the child support system as it currently exists actually punishes the less powerful and wealthy partner in most cases.

In some cases, the non-custodial parent winds up paying more than they can afford. If payments are not made in a timely manner, then they continue to accrue with no way to reset or reduce them. There are also cases where the custodial parent is accused of using the funds for his or her own benefit rather than for the children. The lack of oversight on how child support payments are spent is frustrating for many people, but the courts argue that it would be nearly impossible to carefully monitor every penny paid in child support.

In Wisconsin, the custodial parent is referred to as having ‘physical placement” of the child. The courts may determine what the placement will be if the parents cannot reach an agreement., and the child support payments will be based partially on the physical placement of the children in question. Support levels are based on a percentage of the non-custodial parent’s income. There are also special cases where the percentages may be altered. This includes situations where parents have very high or low incomes, there is more than one family being supported, the parents have shared custody, or there are multiple children and placement of them is split.

The support agreement is binding in court, but it is not written in stone. Parents can request modifications if there are changes in their circumstances. They can ask for different custody arrangements, request an increase in child support or have the levels decreased if they are laid off. It’s important to understand all of the child support enforcement laws, what happens if the payments are delinquent and how modifications can be requested. An experienced divorce attorney may be able to help parents navigate the process and receive the appropriate child support levels.

Source: The Root, “Child-Support Laws: A Boon for Gold Diggers?”, Keli Goff, May 22, 2013

Study shows that raising a child is more expensive than ever

Wisconsin residents may be interested in a study which shows the cost of raising a child as being higher than ever. This may have implications in a divorce settlement where the amount of child support is an issue.

A study from the U.S. Department of Agriculture concludes that it takes an average of $241,080 to raise a child until adulthood. If the child goes to college, the study says that the number is almost double. While the actual amount varies depending on a number of factors, such as geography, income and size of the family, the average is still up from previous years. The new average for a child born in 2012 is the highest in the study’s history, 2.6 percent higher than the number from 2011 and 23 percent higher than the cost in the study’s first year in 1960.

Seven different categories are measured and ranked by the study. Across the board, housing was the largest proportion of expenses, averaging about 30 percent of the amount for one child. The actual numbers change depending on income levels, as well. For example, a family that has an income of less than $60,640 is likely to spend around $173,490 on their child until adulthood. A family making more than $105,000, however, averages more than double what the lower-income family spends.

Calculating child support payments in a contested divorce is extremely important, as these monthly payments are used by the custodial parent for everyday expenses and often help when that spouse has a lower income. An attorney who is familiar with child support and custody issues may be able to help ensure that the proper amount of child support is provided in the support agreement.

Source: LA Times, “Price tag for raising a baby until adulthood: $241,080”, Shan Li, August 29, 2013

Diva’s father granted reduction in child support

Wisconsin parents who pay child support may be ordered to pay more when they take home a significant amount of income. However, parents may seek a reduction in the child support award if their income is reduced. Such was the case for one famous woman’s father who recently had the amount of the child support that he had to pay modified after seeing a significant drop in his income.

Mathew Knowles, father of the legendary diva Beyonce Knowles, sought a reduction in his child support payments after his income was drastically reduced. A hearing commenced earlier this year. Since the majority of his income came from managing his daughter’s career, Knowles was not able to pay the court-ordered amount after being fired in 2011.

The child support was ordered after an actress named Knowles in a paternity case. Knowles was still married at the time that he fathered the child. Beyonce’s mother filed for divorce about one month after her husband was named in the paternity case in 2009. The couple was together for about 30 years when the divorce action was finalized. The father had been paying $12,000 a month in child support while working for his superstar daughter. The judge agreed with Knowles’ argument that he has since had a much lower income and ordered him to pay about $2,500 a month. The order is retroactive to February 2013. However, Knowles was required to pay the actress’s legal fees of about $15,000.

Individuals who are paying child support may decide to file for a modification if their income changes. Through such a course of action, they may be able to get the support amount reduced to match their income level.

Source: The Huffington Post, “Beyonce’s Father, Mathew Knowles, Granted Cut In Child Support”, March 05, 2014

Child support and the gender of the custodial parent

According to information released by the Census Bureau for 2011, mothers in Wisconsin and across the nation are statistically more likely to fail to pay court-ordered child support than fathers are. The data suggests that 25.1 percent of custodial mothers with child support agreements did not receive any of the child support to which they were entitled, as opposed to 32 percent of custodial fathers.

Nationally, $14.3 billion went unpaid in child support in 2011. Researchers have posited a hypothesis that because the average income of a woman-run household is about half that of a man’s, women who are struggling to maintain a base standard of living may be less likely to be able to make child support payments.

An additional factor is that many custodial fathers reject child support provisions in the divorce decree for a number of reasons. While a court generally orders the non-custodial parent to pay child support, it is believed that custodial fathers are not as likely to utilize government resources to help collect past due obligations as custodial mothers are. On average, when the father does not collect child support, the household income is over $9,000 higher annually, while custodial mothers’ household income drops by almost $4,200 per year.

When representing a parent who is going through a divorce, an attorney might examine the financial status of both spouses to help determine how likely the client is to receive all or part of the child support ordered by the court. The attorney can assist in incorporating a provision regarding this matter into a comprehensive settlement agreement to submit to the court for its approval.

Source: fivethirtyeight.com, “Are Moms Less Likely Than Dads To Pay Child Support?”, Mona Chalabi, Feb. 26, 2015

Using benefit garnishments to get child support

Many Wisconsin parents struggle with getting the child support they are owed from an ex-spouse or former partner. These parents understand that being granted child support is only the first hurdle they must jump through. What follows is often the much more difficult process of getting the money that is ordered. The good news is that parents have a variety of free or inexpensive methods available to them to claim current or past due child support payments.

The best time to collect on child support is always when the children in question are still minors. Attempting to collect back-owed child support after the child becomes an adult is much more difficult, and state agencies may not help a parent in such a situation.

A common way to collect unpaid support is to garnish Social Security benefits and tax returns. Since these payments are managed by government offices, they can easily withhold the payment of these funds and transfer the money to the parent who is owed support. Social Security benefits can usually be garnished up to 65 percent, so long as the payment is not considered SSI. A parent may also go after the other parent’s bank accounts. When collecting payments, the other parent’s current financial status is still considered. Garnishments are not mean to leave one parent completely bereft of income.

While it is possible to use free or inexpensive government services to collect child support, many parents may benefit from the use of a private attorney. An attorney may be able to help a parent understand all of their options for collecting support. They may help ensure that the case is kept a priority.

Alimony changes with the times

The traditional view of alimony in Wisconsin is that of an ex-husband paying an ex-wife. However, incomes between spouses have begun to even out over the years. In many cases, women’s salaries exceed men’s, clearing the path for divorcing husbands to receive spousal support.

Alimony has never been just a one-way legal street for females, although most courts today grant more women post-marital support than men. Marriages have evolved from the days of single income households, when men were the only wage earners and women contributed to marriage by forfeiting paychecks to stay at home and raise children.

Women have moved into the workforce and increased their personal earning power. Research on gender job income among married couples in 2002 revealed that in as many as one in three marriages, wives made more money than their husbands did.

The research found that when both spouses worked, nearly one-fourth of women earned more. Another 6 percent of married women were breadwinners by default because their husbands were unemployed.

Family law judges began to notice the financial impact of married women’s incomes in the 1970s and began to take that into account during divorce settlements. Income is not the only criteria courts consider. The ages of both spouses, educational backgrounds, current occupations and health conditions factor in to a judge’s alimony decision.

Alimony is designed to help divorcing spouses continue the financial lifestyle each had during marriage. Laws pertaining to alimony have long been gender neutral and based on an income disparity between spouses. For high-income women in unhappy marriages with low-income spouses, it is more likely today than it has ever been that a husband’s request for alimony will be considered.

Source: Huffington Post, “Women Increasingly Pay Alimony,” Lili A. Vasileff, 6/9/2011