Topic: Child Support

by Francesca Dobbyn

Child support.  A term that causes so much conflict and animosity between parents, and yet it really shouldn’t.

I overheard a mom, the custodial parent, tell a friend that the father had not paid support in over 2 years.  He stopped paying when she began dating.  Not the first time I’ve encountered such a conversation and unfortunately not the last.  The worst was the contractor who offers to lay off his workers and pay them under the table to avoid wage garnishing.  How nasty.

I fail to understand why for some parents, support payments are looked upon so harshly by the paying parent.  They seem to resent each and every penny which makes no sense.  The federal guidelines are built o­n the principle that both parents should share the same portion of their income with their child as they would if they had continued to live together.

For almost as long as this page has been in existence we've run ads for supportkids.com - a company that goes after back child support for you.

For the last two years instead of getting paid our measly few bucks a month in fees we have had to bug, beg & report them to the Linkshare Network for non payment.  O­nly then would we get paid many months late.

In September they announced, via email, that they were getting out of the business and stated "We will pay for commissions earned o­n 'orders received' through an affiliate link through September 22".

Imagine my surprise today when I was informed that I would NOT be paid because I didn't meet their "minimum pay out level"  Funny...the above line from their email in September stated they would be paying for all orders received.

I apologize to anyone who might have had dealings with these people through a link o­n our site. I thought they were honest but today they have proven otherwise to me.  This is a slimy way to get out of paying a few bucks to people who made money for them.

My advice - keep away.  I don't trust anyone who's that dishonest over money earned.  You have to wonder about a company that goes after deadbeats when they themselves are proven deadbeats.

Added 05 December 2003:  Today I did receive a cheque for the money owed.  I still would not recommend these people as I, the squeaky wheel, did get paid but hundreds more in my position probably didn't.  I detest companies or people who will take advantage of the underdog.

Child support is not money to play games with. The person paying support does not finance the custodial parents dates, vacations or otherwise. Child support is exactly what it is called: Support for your children.

Here in Canada there are new child support laws. People have been complaining that the income of the custodial parent is not taken into effect in deciding the amount of support to be paid. When it comes down to it, it is not relevant. It also should not matter if the Non-Custodial Parent makes a million dollars a year. Each parent should o­nly be responsible for 50% of the cost to raise the child. An ex with a good job is not a cash cow! Regardless of a parents income, both sides should equally support their children.

No! Because of the growing trend of custodial fathers, there is a new trend o­n backwards thinking -- Non-custodial mothers who do not pay, and are not even required to pay, support. You have to know that if this mother had custody society would be outraged at this lack of concern for financial support. o­nce again, is this the assumption that the father is the larger wage earner? It does not matter! Support is for the children, not the parents. Mom's without custody should be made to pay support for their children just as Dad's without custody are.

Non payment of support can lead to substandard conditions for your children. A child's self esteem is so precious, lets fight to preserve it any way we can. Poor living conditions do nothing to boost a child, it will o­nly in time drag them down. And to top thing off, when the child is old enough to understand what has been done, they will end up resentful of the parent who neglected their financial responsibilities.