JEFFERSON CITY - Missouri judges can now lower child support payments for
the time noncustodial parents - most of them dads - spend with their children.
Under a new system recently approved by the state Supreme Court, noncustodial
parents can also get credit for things such as day care expenses, parochial
school tuition and select hockey team costs.
Lori Levine, a Jefferson City attorney, said the expenses of noncustodial
parents have been ignored for too long. Food,, clothing and entertainment
costs add up, "I think it's probably as close to reality as it ought to
be," she said of the new system. Not everyone is happy.
Leigh Joy Carson, a Clayton attorney who specializes in family law, worries
that the new system will be abused. Noncustodial parents may ask for more time
with their children, even if they don't want them around, just to have lower
child support payments, she said.
At the center of the debate is Form 14, a piece of paper that looks like an
income tax return. The state Supreme Court approved the new form on July 9,
after rejecting earlier drafts. It will now be used with other documents as a
rough guide to figure out child support payments.
The most controversial part of the new form is the idea of credits for the
time spent with children. Under the new system, noncustodial parents who keep
their children overnight 92 to 109 times a year, for example, could get 10
percent off their child support payments.
The form takes effect Oct. 1. Until then, judges have the option of using
the form in calculating support payments.
Carson said the system should favor custodial parents, who generally pick
up extra expenses like Boys Life magazine or Girl Scout fees. The basic child
support rates are based on the expenses of intact families, Carson said, which
she says makes support payments too small.
The new system could hurt low-income parents, she said. "I think it's
a bad deal for the custodial parent. For some of these people, you're taking
away $30 a month. It makes a big difference."
Marty Witbeck, 35, of O'Fallon, Mo., said the courts should more carefully
account for the child support costs in both homes and divide the money
accordingly. Witbeck is president of the St. Louis chapter of the American
Coalition for Fathers and Children. He said the system is still slanted toward
mothers.
The latest changes are "a step in the right direction - a very small
baby step," he said.
Mark H. Willenbrink, Warson Woods' police chief, said he and his second
ex-wife worked out their child support arrangements on their own. When his
daughter from that marriage spends vacations with him, he does not pay child
support. 'When you rely on the courts to straighten out your situation, it's
not going to work," he said.
While Willenbrink sympathized with so-called "mad dad" groups, he
said mothers and fathers need to get past the need for revenge.
"They don't know what it does to the kids," he said. David
Collignon, who will teach classes on the changing system for the Missouri Bar
Association, said the new form is an effort to make the system more
understandable. Not everyone agrees that it has succeeded. I "We're
catching a lot of heat," said Collignon, a family law attorney who used
to practice in Clayton. Referring to Form 14, he added, "you damn near
need a CPA to look at this thing."
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For More Information Contact:
Leigh Joy Carson Attorney At Law
222 South Central, Suite 1003, Clayton MO 63105
Tel: 314-721-2422
FAX: 314-721-1663
Internet: leighjoy@aol.com
