DB
2009-06-23 04:52:53 UTC
Courts blind to economic times!
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2009/06/21/sacksed_0621.html
Layoffs, courts put some dads in jail
Sunday, June 21, 2009
This will be an exceptionally sad Fathers Day for millions of divorced and
separated fathers and the children who love them and need them. Many dads
have lost their jobs or suffered significant drops in income. Because it is
difficult for fathers to get their child support orders modified downward,
many decent, loving fathers are being jailed because they cant keep up with
their child support obligations.
Ed ODonnell, chairman of the New Jersey State Bar Associations Family Law
Executive Committee, says that it usually requires in excess of six months
before a judge will say, [The job loss] is possibly a real change in
circumstances Six months is a long time, when youre desperate.
This problem is creating many outrageous, well-documented injustices.
For example, in one case highlighted by the Boston Globe, a divorced father
who worked in the real estate industry had been paying $6,000 a month in
child support, plus additional expenses such as health insurance and
tuition. When the real estate industry crashed, he fell behind and, with an
application for a downward modification still pending, was handcuffed in
court and jailed for 30 days.
The Bergen Record recently detailed the case of Peter Triantafillou, a
divorced dad who agreed to pay $5,000 a month in child support in 2006 while
earning a good income as a trader. When the economic downturn hit, he was
laid off twice and now earns only $60,000 exactly the amount of his child
support obligation. He says:
They had an arrest warrant on me. I had to go to jail for two days. I could
understand if I was a deadbeat dad. Or I was on the run or something. But Im
here, picking up my kids after school. Im involved. Just because I dont
have that much money to pay anymore doesnt mean I should be chastised.
National Public Radio reported the case of a Cape Cod, Mass., father who
lost his job in January but is still required to pay $3,466 a month in child
support and 65 percent of college expenses for two of his children.
According to NPR:
He petitioned the court to pay less child support but had to wait two and
a half months for a hearing. Then the judge denied his request to
temporarily lower his child support payments and scheduled a trial for
July typically, it takes six months from the time a noncustodial parent
petitions the court to pay less because of a job loss to when the court
makes a decision.
While the vast majority of those losing jobs in the recession are men, it is
certainly true that custodial mothers are also struggling. Yet while people
may fall behind on their credit cards and their mortgages, only parents with
child-support orders risk being jailed because they cant pay their
financial obligations.
The systems lack of concern for fathers is evidenced by the fact that child
support officials in numerous states are telling reporters without a trace
of irony or shame that the best way theyve found to collect child support
money in the recession is garnisheeing half of obligor fathers unemployment
checks.
Some judges tell laid-off fathers to pay the child support from their
savings. Yet most of these fathers dont have significant savings, and the
burden often ends up falling on their elderly parents. It is common for
grandparents to use their retirement funds to pay their sons child support
to keep them out of jail.
Judges attitudes toward this is usually an unsympathetic I dont care
where the money comes from as long as it is paid. Even for fathers with
some modest savings, this is wrongheaded child support is supposed to be
based on income.
While there certainly are fathers who do not meet their responsibilities to
their children, the deadbeat dad issue has always been overblown. Even
before the recession, the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcements own
data showed that two-thirds of deadbeat dads earned poverty-level wages,
and only 4 percent earned even $40,000 a year.
For years sheriffs in many counties have marked Fathers Day by launching
deadbeat dad raids to nab dads who have arrest warrants. These raids
always accompanied by lectures on responsibility generally yield
strikingly little money, but they do get the sheriffs good publicity. Given
the terrible position so many fathers are in, this years raids will be even
more cruel.
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/2009/06/21/sacksed_0621.html
Layoffs, courts put some dads in jail
Sunday, June 21, 2009
This will be an exceptionally sad Fathers Day for millions of divorced and
separated fathers and the children who love them and need them. Many dads
have lost their jobs or suffered significant drops in income. Because it is
difficult for fathers to get their child support orders modified downward,
many decent, loving fathers are being jailed because they cant keep up with
their child support obligations.
Ed ODonnell, chairman of the New Jersey State Bar Associations Family Law
Executive Committee, says that it usually requires in excess of six months
before a judge will say, [The job loss] is possibly a real change in
circumstances Six months is a long time, when youre desperate.
This problem is creating many outrageous, well-documented injustices.
For example, in one case highlighted by the Boston Globe, a divorced father
who worked in the real estate industry had been paying $6,000 a month in
child support, plus additional expenses such as health insurance and
tuition. When the real estate industry crashed, he fell behind and, with an
application for a downward modification still pending, was handcuffed in
court and jailed for 30 days.
The Bergen Record recently detailed the case of Peter Triantafillou, a
divorced dad who agreed to pay $5,000 a month in child support in 2006 while
earning a good income as a trader. When the economic downturn hit, he was
laid off twice and now earns only $60,000 exactly the amount of his child
support obligation. He says:
They had an arrest warrant on me. I had to go to jail for two days. I could
understand if I was a deadbeat dad. Or I was on the run or something. But Im
here, picking up my kids after school. Im involved. Just because I dont
have that much money to pay anymore doesnt mean I should be chastised.
National Public Radio reported the case of a Cape Cod, Mass., father who
lost his job in January but is still required to pay $3,466 a month in child
support and 65 percent of college expenses for two of his children.
According to NPR:
He petitioned the court to pay less child support but had to wait two and
a half months for a hearing. Then the judge denied his request to
temporarily lower his child support payments and scheduled a trial for
July typically, it takes six months from the time a noncustodial parent
petitions the court to pay less because of a job loss to when the court
makes a decision.
While the vast majority of those losing jobs in the recession are men, it is
certainly true that custodial mothers are also struggling. Yet while people
may fall behind on their credit cards and their mortgages, only parents with
child-support orders risk being jailed because they cant pay their
financial obligations.
The systems lack of concern for fathers is evidenced by the fact that child
support officials in numerous states are telling reporters without a trace
of irony or shame that the best way theyve found to collect child support
money in the recession is garnisheeing half of obligor fathers unemployment
checks.
Some judges tell laid-off fathers to pay the child support from their
savings. Yet most of these fathers dont have significant savings, and the
burden often ends up falling on their elderly parents. It is common for
grandparents to use their retirement funds to pay their sons child support
to keep them out of jail.
Judges attitudes toward this is usually an unsympathetic I dont care
where the money comes from as long as it is paid. Even for fathers with
some modest savings, this is wrongheaded child support is supposed to be
based on income.
While there certainly are fathers who do not meet their responsibilities to
their children, the deadbeat dad issue has always been overblown. Even
before the recession, the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcements own
data showed that two-thirds of deadbeat dads earned poverty-level wages,
and only 4 percent earned even $40,000 a year.
For years sheriffs in many counties have marked Fathers Day by launching
deadbeat dad raids to nab dads who have arrest warrants. These raids
always accompanied by lectures on responsibility generally yield
strikingly little money, but they do get the sheriffs good publicity. Given
the terrible position so many fathers are in, this years raids will be even
more cruel.