Setting max spending of child support $ for one child's monthly food, clothing, and transport...

[Boojatta]

...

(Note:
If the part of monthly, court-ordered child support payments that were spend on one child's monthly food, clothing, and transportation were restricted to no more than some maximum dollar figure, then of course there would be adjustments made to the maximum dollar figure for inflation and there could be adjustments made in case of an exceptionally high local cost of living in some areas.)

... (See below for answer options) -->

[Midlodemocrat]

1. You left out housing.

And, the non custodial parent should pay what they can afford to pay. If it's a lot, great for the kid.

[ManiacJoe]

2. Is it me, or is the context of all of this missing?

What would be the point of having to pay more if there was a cap on the spending since child support is different from alimony?

[Boojatta]

5. "What would be the point of having to pay more"

What would be the point of having to pay more than what? Yes, my understanding is that child support payments are different from spousal support payments.

If you're interested in some associated issues that might possibly arise, there's a related thread in the Poverty forum here on DU. If you don't recognize it from its title, you might recognize it because the "Author" column in the Poverty forum shows the name "Boojatta" for that thread.

[ManiacJoe]

6. Thanks for the pointer.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=230x2109

This poll question makes a lot more sense with background context.

[sandnsea]

3. The cost of maintaining two homes

should be calculated because both parents deserve to provide the child with a basic standard of living. There has to be some consideration for median income workers because one person shouldn't have excess comforts at the expense of another. However, once people get into the $250,000+ bracket then the non-custodial parent needs to pay because the kids shouldn't have to struggle just because a parent is selfish.

[Boojatta]

4. Re the cost of "maintaining" two homes...

Unless I'm mistaken, you wrote:

The cost of maintaining two homes should be calculated because both parents deserve to provide the child with a basic standard of living.

In the case of rental housing, are you referring to such things as the cost of losing part of a damage deposit because of wear and tear that cannot be definitely classified either as normal or unusual? Alternatively, in the case of rental housing, are you referring to the total of all costs associated with renting a unit?

Please note that I didn't intend to suggest that food, clothing, and transportation are the only money costs that raising a child imposes on a custodial parent. The following sentence from the Original Post specifically refers to "the part of monthly, court ordered child support payments that (...)", which should indicate rather clearly that I was talking about a part and not necessarily anywhere near the whole child support payment amount.

Quoting from the Original Post:

If the part of monthly, court-ordered child support payments that were spend (sic; it should have said "spent") on one child's monthly food, clothing, and transportation were restricted to (...)

[Rosemary2205]

7. From what I've seen , Dad's are just ATM's

More than once, in fact, quite a lot. I see the court award the children to Mom, guarantee Dad only 2 weekends a month, and expect Dad to pay up to 50% of his gross income in child support. More times that I care to admit, the ex-wife only allows Dad to see his kids those 4 days a month - and Gawd help him if he gets stuck in traffic on Friday and arrives at 6:02pm instead of 6pm sharp - or returns the kids 5 seconds after 6pm on Sunday.

I have seen a few great situations where the ex's are mature enough to actually raise the kids and work things out. But more often I see some seriously ugly shit and the courts generally screw Dad when that happens.

If the custodial parent is going to keep all her own income plus half the Ex's fine. But courts really need to tell these pissed off ex wives the get a damn grip and let Dads who want to be active fathers spend the time with the kids instead of making every phone call, every visit, every everything a living hell for both the kid and the Dad.

[SoCalDem]

8. These things are based on the income of the person paying support..

The ONE thing I would like to see is how one arrives at WHO pays support..

If a man has no intention of leaving his family, is a good Dad, and MOM gets a boyfriend and leaves, it seems a shame to make the Dad pay..

I have a friend in this very position.. His wife hooked up with her boss, and now my friend has to pay almost $1K a month in child support, and she and the boys live with the boss .. The only silver lining, is that they are almost teens and have told him they want to come & live with him

[treestar]

9. It is based on the lifestyle the child was used to

So there should be no maximum. If Bill Gates has to pay child support, it will be in tandem with what he made during the marriage.

[El Pinko]

10. I think a percentage of the PARENT'S income would be okay.

The assumption that it's automatically a dad irks me, but it seems like something like 20% of the parent's income would be reasonable.