Biographies::My Story 20050209
From R-KIDS of MN and GPF
My name is Jim, I am the father of two boys with one woman, and in June of this year I had a baby girl with another woman. I make it my own responsibility to pay child support to the mother of my two boys, we both agreed on an amount that was fair based on the actual cost of raising the children. When my daughter was born I was no longer with the second woman for personal reasons relating to her behavior, but we still both agreed that I would pay voluntarily every pay period based on the before mentioned scale until such time as she gets married, and I would have weekly visitation.
Enter the State of MN, more specifically the county human services child support officer. Apparently, since we had established paternity and I had voluntarily signed the right of parentage form, and she receives day care assistance through the state, the human services office is given the sole responsibility to collect child support. As the saga continued the second woman in this story decided that I could no longer have visitation, and if I tried to seek it through the courts she would leave the state with my daughter and I was going to have to pay for eighteen years and suffer because she no longer liked me, and couldn't stand the thought of "her" daughter being around me. She has since informed me that she will be getting married in Sept. of this year, but I am still going to have to pay because she "hates" me.
Today I received my court ordered child support amount, and it is actually more than was recommended by the child support officer originally, I origanally thought that amount was absurd but now the court, since I do not have a court order saying that I have to pay $500.00 a month for my first two boys, does not have take that money into consideration and give me a reasonable deduction for what I pay willingly. Furthermore they are basing their findings on money received by me by voluntary overtime and bonuses, which every year is a different amount, if any bonus is paid at all.
Summarily, the way the system is set up now, the State is punishing me for having a verbal agreement and trying to do the right thing by my children. With this new child support figure, not only can I not afford to pay my bills, but I can't afford to help pay for the costs of raising my other two children, which is going to force their mother to look to the state for assistance, which is going to cause the state to come back to me and take more money, which is going to drive me closer to the poverty line, which is going to cause me to look to the state for assistance.
Now I'm no genius here, but as a taxpayer this trend is very upsetting, By trying to help one person that was on a state assisted program, using this method of determining child support has potentially driven a mother and her two sons to the state, and ultimately will drive an honest father to enroll in some state assisted and funded programs.
Seems counter productive in some way doesn't it?
