Most everyone is familiar with the phrase, “deadbeat dad.” It’s used to describe a father who is behind on his child support payments. This phrase, according to the dictionary, says that the parent has “freely chosen” not to pay his support. According to some experts, that isn’t always the case.
The Fathers’ Rights Council of Georgia says that 66 percent of all men who are behind on child support payments are not that way because they don’t want to pay – it’s because they cannot afford to pay. One research study out of Nebraska that studied court custody cases in Nebraska from 2002 to 2012 found that 72 percent of cases on child custody resulted in 5.5 days of visitation per month for fathers.
Many of these fathers are loving, caring individuals who want what is best for their children but may be subjected to high child support payments they cannot afford. Even if the child support payments are paid, some fathers may still not get the visitation they deserve to remain a constant in their child’s life.
When a father can’t pay his child support payments, he will often face the mercy of the court. Some may end up in jail, where they cannot work or they end up losing the job they did have. This leads fathers’ rights experts to claim that these “fathers are not able to get back on their feet because the state continues to sweep their legs out from under them.”
While child support can be one of the most contentious parts of a Colorado divorce, once the divorce decree is signed, you may think there is no further recourse. However, if circumstances change, either with your financial situation or with your ex’s, you may have success with a child support modification hearing.
Source: Huffington Post, “The Myth of the “Deadbeat Dad” Label” Joseph E. Cordell, Feb. 07, 2014