Everyone Should Learn a Little about Law
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Everyone Should Learn a Little about Law

While lawyers and judges are the ultimate legal experts, of course, I believe that every citizen should take the time to learn a little about law for several reasons. First, it is important to know your rights, and knowing them can come in handy if anyone ever accuses you of a crime you didn't commit or threatens you legally in another other way. Second, learning about your local, state, and federal laws can help you act as a better citizen. When election time comes around, you can then truly understand ever change in law being proposed by a candidate and whether it benefits society or not. I plan to share posts about law topics explained in plain English on my new blog, so you can come back often to sharpen your legal knowledge!

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Everyone Should Learn a Little about Law

Do The Right Thing - Pay The Cost Of Raising Your Child

Kaylee Wells

In 2010, the United States Census Bureau collected information that showed that at that time $41.7 billion was being paid in some type of child support. This payment averaged out to approximately $430 per month. Some support orders are much higher, while others are much lower. Calculated annually, the average annual payment is only $5,150.

Unfortunately, many children, as well as their custodial parents, do not see nearly this amount. Even the court orders that are put into place to collect an award often go unpaid. While there are many reasons given for the failure to pay support, the reality is the child is the one that often suffers. If you owe child support, and are not paying, you may want to rethink your commitment.

Reasons Why Not To Pay Child Support

Over the years, there have been a wide variety of reasons given on why a person should not support their child or children. Some of these reasons are given in court when the non-supporting parent appears in front of the judge to defend why they are not complying with a court order, while others are given to the custodial parent. Some of them are:

  • The custodial parent is using the money for other things.
  • Visitation is being denied, so therefore child support payments are being withheld.
  • Paternity of the child is in question.
  • The obligated parent is unemployed.
  • The obligated parent has other children, or another household to support.
  • The obligated parent was trapped into a pregnancy for the purpose of financial convenience, and more.

While these are some overall common excuses given, some parents have even managed to come up with more creative reasons for not paying child support. No matter which excuse is being used, there is still a child, or children that often stand in need of basic support.

Many households are forced to receive state supported, as well as federal, benefits due to the lack of financial support in the household, just to meet their basic needs. When this happens, the government will often intervene in an attempt to create and enforce a child support order.

What Does It Cost To Raise A Child

If you were to ask the average parent how many investments they had that were worth approximately a quarter of a million dollars, they would tell you that they have none, but this is not true. Any parent that has a child has made an investment, or a commitment to spend an average of $245,000 just to get that child to age 18. This does not include what it will cost to educate that child in college. This number has a large degree of variance based on the household income, and the area in which you live.

If you divide this number by the 18 years that it is designed to cover, you will come up with a figure of over $13,600 per year. This number is almost two and a half times as high as the average child support payment of $5,160.

What does your child get for this type of money?

  • Food
  • Housing
  • Child Care
  • Health Care
  • Transportation and all the miscellaneous expenses that children come with.

If your child presents with any special needs such as food allergies, or anything that may require regular medical intervention, these costs can also soar.

Your Support Makes A Difference

Even the fun things in life are expensive. If your child shows a gift in any area, including sports, the cost can go up drastically. The inability to afford the cost of playing has sidelined many gifted athletes. When children are shut out of positive activities, they are often drawn to very negative activities.

Would you not rather invest in your child's promising sports career, then participate in juvenile court? Would you not rather dream of your child participating in the Olympics, or accepting their Heisman trophy, than trying to defend their actions that resulted from running with the wrong crowd? While all of their poor decisions may not be circumvented by being enrolled in positive activities, if they have less idle time on their hands, they will have less time to make poor decisions.

Do not allow your child to get caught in the drama between you and their other parent. Your commitment is not to the parent, but to your child. Do the right thing, you will feel better about yourself, and your child will too. If you have concerns about the child support or child custody agreements you have, contact an experienced lawyer. 


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