Georgia has approved the biggest set of changes to its child support system in 30 years. The Georgia Senate approved the changes on Thursday; I apologize for my delay in sharing it with you here.
Here’s an AP story about the changes from AccessNorthGA.com.
As we’ve discussed here before, the changes will shift calculation of child support in Georgia to an “income shares” model that takes account of the income not only of the noncustodial parent (NCP) but also of the CP as well. Georgia will also begin considering the number of nights the child spends with each parent and reduce child support if the child is spending significantly more nights with the NCP than would be the case with “standard” visitation.
Passage of the bill is a big victory for fathers’ rights advocates, because it allows fathers to negotiate to spend more time with their child and pay less child support as a result.
The spectators in the Senate gallery — mostly divorced fathers and their new families — broke into applause when the Senate approved the changes. The story quotes critics of the change as saying it will hurt CPs, mostly divorced mothers. Said one, “This legislation is not about children; it is about money, pure and simple.”
I don’t really see the difference between fighting over visitation schedules or custody since they both involved money. I know of people that were going for custody just because they felt the child support was too high. At least this way it’s fair because there are alot of fathers that want to spend time with their kids. My ex lets me have my daughter above and beyond what we had agreed upon in our divorce settlement, but now I bet she will want to keep her at the babysitter instead of letting her stay with her father.
It seems fair to me that I shouldn’t pay the same amount of child support as a person that does nothing else for thiers. I keep my daughter @45% of the time minimum(overnight), I buy her clothes, take off from work when she is sick or daycare is closed, take off from work to keep her doctor’s appt. Do you think I should have to pay the same amount as someone who sees their child every other weekend or not at all? I have expenses for her because I keep her overnight. I feel that in my case we should use actually costs and then pay a % based upon income. If I make 70% of the total income I should pay 70% of her total actual expenses. Medical, ballet, education, daycare, ect. Since I keep her so often and buy clothes ect, housing, food and the other things that mothers like to use to justify the amount of child support they receive should not be included since I have my own household to maintain.
I especially like the scale that makes one pay more if they spend less days. In Maryland they have a formula that also gives credit for time spent with each parent. They don’t have the issues because it has been in place much longer. After a few years GA and NC will stabalize and you will see people stepping up to the plate and doing whats right for their children or paying the extra amount.
I agree that you should pay less if you spend time with your children. That was my defense in my child support matter. Not only does my daughter not spend any time with her father, he has shut her off from his family. Not to mention the emotional toll; this situation puts me at total responsibiliy for all cost. No holiday or birthday gifts or assistance from his family; no babysitting assistance, non off that. ALL responsibilty falls on me. Fathers who spend time should be recognized.
I agree too. My brother kept his daughter for a month after the mother wrecked her car.
This this past Thanksgiving for ten extra days, so she didn’t have to pay for daycare.
But as the father, it costs him to handle all that over a holiday. Our family does all the
pickups and deliveries and with the cost of gas going up, that takes a toll on us. We love
having his daughter around and she cries when she has to go home. Although, I would hate to think
that she would keep her instead because of a fear of losing child support dollars. I guess in her
mind she would start trying to determine which way would cost her more money.