newworldman is absosmurfly 1000 percent correct. i am a lawyer and used to work for a legal aid organization where i was compelled to fight for the highest child support order against these guys. after two years, i could no longer stomach that crap. we had fellows making anywhere from 800-1200/mo who were bringing home 500/mo ( the self reserve amount in my state) after child support. these men will never get out of the hole that our fouled-up judicial system dug and tossed them in. granted, a child should be supported by both parents; however, the system is draconian in that the amounts ordered are beyond unreasonable, and prevent the parent who is to make payments (usually the father) from ever moving on with his life, financially or emotionally. the flip side to this coin was that, in my experience, on the unusual occasion where the judge gave custody to a father, the mother's child support obligation was often reduced or eliminated. truth. the worst of it is that the child support guidelines in my state most adversely affect working class and lower middle class men, those guys making 15-35 grand per year. make less than that and your support is nil, more than that and the percentage of your income that goes to support is exponentially less than those guys in the 15-35k range, i.e., although the rich guy's dollar amount of support may be more, as a percentage of his income it is much, much less. not to mention that arrearages collect interest at 10% per year. one of these guys once said something to me that i have never forgotten: "a man can't pay, so you ask him to pay more. then he's got more shi* piled on top of the shi* that he couldn't get out from under in the first place." i quit a week later.
