Debt Prison

**Disclaimer – Debtprison.net does not administer legal or financial advice. The contents of this website are my opinions on collection agencies and how to deal with them. Nothing on this website should be interpreted as legal advice or council. No opinions on this website should be used to replace the advice of your financial advisor or your legal council.

From the comments of ‘Can you go to jail for not paying your child support’ a father espoused his views on child support laws in the United States.  I found his statement to be insightful and revealing in regards to the constant madness surrounding child support laws in this country.  I believe he accurately advanced the plight of the American Father in the following statement:

Well Ms. Child support that is a sad tale but the only the ONLY thing unusual about it is that you (the victim) are a woman. As a man whose ex-wife did everything she could do to get me fired then sued me for contempt for not paying alimony, child support, her legal fees, etc. I can say that for men this is common. You see the states have a vested, pecuniary interest in maximizing child support awards. The nonsense that this is “FOR THE CHILDREN!!!” is a lie plain and simple. States make money by awarding as much as possible and mom (sorry Dad in your case) ALWAYS supports the most egregious amounts possible because hey… IT’S HER MONEY RIGHT?!?

Of course if the question really being asked is what is best for the children and the courts answer is ALWAYS that its MONEY MONEY MONEY MONEY then the obvious solution is to always grant sole custody to the party that makes the most. That would completely negate any reason for child support but we can’t do that because 99% of the time its Dad that makes more and as mentioned it isn’t really about what’s best for the children but what is best for generating cash for the state. You see if mom doesn’t work and dad makes $100,000 well then according to the shares model that is a serious stream of moolah heading to the state from matching federal funds. It doesn’t matter if mom is a drug addict, or a psychopath, or pimps out the daughter to her boyfriends in exchange for crack, that doesn’t matter. What matters is maximizing child support and getting the father into arrears as quickly as possible (arrears generate interest and penalties! For the children!!!).

The entire scheme of child support has the effect of paying mom handsomely to divorce dad – then we claim we’re concerned for broken homes. It is designed from the ground up to destroy fatherhood, create conflict (sometimes murder), and maximize the taxation of men. Sorry as a woman you are effected by this as its a fact that most of the time the punishment for past due c.s. is almost never enforced if the guilty party is female. It is often said that the only way to stop child support and alimony is to make women actually have to pay it. Well here’s hoping you see that it is wrong now that you have a taste of what millions of ex-fathers have to endure every single day. We are forced out, told under threat of violent arrest not to see our children, then we are punished for “abandoning” our children with huge payouts to the kidnappers and their agents. When the end of our civilization comes (hopefully quickly) I expect history will view us in the same light we view every other trader of slaves in history.

Here’s the comment that inspired the above

Ok, I have been reading all this stuff on this site and let me tell you from first hand experience how this works. I went to jail last August while I was in a high risk pregnancy w/ my new baby boy. I was there for 30 days and it was soo horrible. I could not have ANY contact w/ my now 4 yr old son and that doesnt even speak for the 2 I am in trouble for not paying on.

Let me make something very clear. I was married to ex hubby for 5 yrs…during which time, I witnessed him hit my now 14yr old son w/ a remote in the head, call both my 14 and my 10 yr old names such as dumbarse…polite wording of course and asking if they were stupid several times, (which btw they are not by any means)….after I witnessed him spank the 14 yr old which was almost 7 at time w/ a paddle and leave his butt an ENTIRE bruise…i made my decision. I got a job and held it for nearly a year and when i thought the time was right I packed my stuff and the kids and left. Little did I know that I would soon get pregnant w/ my now 4 yr old and was fired almost immediately afterwards.Well to make this part of the story short…he won custody cause i lost my apartment, my car, no job and no money…where as he had it all.

The other day I had to go back for a review and there had been a 4 mth period which i had no money to pay towards the child support this time. but the last 3 mths i have made all my payments as i had had them taken out of my checks. which btw i had to show proof cause they were saying i hadnt paid except for 1 mth. well now they have admitted that out of the original $7000 i owed for back support, i have paid $5000 of it…but yet in less than one mth i have to come up w/ another $2000 or go to jail for 6mths…despite the fact that i am working and paying now, and despite the fact that i am also raising 2 younger kids on my own w/ little pay. This is not about the kids…this is about them getting there share of the money. We have given the government way too much authority…We need to stop this madness. Did I mention that while I am in jail not only will they not be recieving my payments, but they will actually be increasing which will make it that much harder to catch up on.

I am desperate!!! Please give me an idea on what to do…and before anyone says it…i love my kids (all of them) and i am in there lives…at least as much as there “dad” allows it. The sad thing is that there dad actually put me on supervised visits while i was in jail due to who the other 2 kids dad is…nothing to do w/ me myself and i havent seen them but 2 times in the last year. Please believe me…this isnt by my choice. I just want the country to see what we are facing. I would never do this to anyone…especially when there are other kids involved.

And now for my views

1) Child support shouldn’t exist in the first place. Or at least the government/court system should have no say in it. Government mandated child support is just one more nail in the coffin destroying our families.

2) If a man and woman are not married, and the woman gets pregnant, the man should have no legal rights to the child – nor should the female expect anything from him. That is, there should be no legal requests on either party – the government should stay out of it. The male (and female) disregarded any moral (and legal) obligation by having sex outside of marriage or by in the very least, not marrying when they discovered the pregnancy. By attempting to remove the consequences of immoral behavior (financial and social hardship) – you encourage more immoral behavior. By removing the lawyers, judges, legislation, and our matriarchal dominated court system – you force men and women to face these problems without the aid or force of any legal body – and that is a good thing for the child. Both parents would have to negotiate and agree to the terms – without being able to use the force of a court or legal body.

3) Child support is often, if not a majority of the time, used to drive a further wedge between the father and his ambiguous relationship with the child. Women often use child support and judges to intimidate, if not outright harass a man.

4) Our present system of matriarchal dominated family court – has nearly destroyed our culture, our country, and our security. For the last 40 years women have been in control of America’s lawyers and judges. The lawyers all work together because more divorce works in their favor because of the monetary benefit they receive from such legal proceedings.

In America it is almost insanity for a man to consider marriage – or sex for that matter – because of the heinous aggression and contempt that our legal system has in store for him. If you think that all of the following items have been good for America – then please explain to me how:

1) Women pursuing careers (or dreams or whatever).

2) America’s court system rewarding women for divorce and punishing men for having married in the first place.

3) Media bombardment from all angles showing that a woman should have it all – or at least a life free from children, the ‘bondage’ of marriage, and the demands of those pesky men.

4) Medicaid paying for the poor to have children out of wedlock.

5) The tax system rewarding the poor for having a medicaid baby.

If you think that this female dominated culture that has become America is a good thing, then once again – I ask you how? One thing is for certain, that is, a society which promotes such ‘values’ as I mention above, will not stand. It cannot stand. And if you think that America (whatever America is these days) will survive it – think again.

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Can you go to jail for not paying your child support?

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Time in prison is just one of many possible consequences of failing to pay your child support.  Recently I came across this on the U.S. Department of State website which states that if you are behind on “child support payments in excess of $2,500, you are ineligible to receive a U.S. passport. If this applies to you, Passport Services strongly recommends that you contact the appropriate State child support enforcement agency to make payment arrangements before applying for a passport.”  While I was in a sporting good store recently I witnessed a man being turned down for a hunting license, thanks to a new State mandated computer system that all licensees must adhere to. He was denied the hunting license because he is behind on child support. So you can’t hunt, fish, or even leave the country. It’s also been brought to my attention that the government can withold child support payments from your tax refund! Feel free to leave comments or questions at the end of this article.

**Disclaimer – Debtprison.net does not administer legal or financial advice. The contents of this website are my opinions on collection agencies and how to deal with them. Nothing on this website should be interpreted as legal advice or council. No opinions on this website should be used to replace the advice of your financial advisor or your legal council.

In research for this article I interviewed my Aunt, whom was a Child Support Enforcement Officer.  Since 1985 she was an Employee of the State of Mississippi  but her position is funded by a Federal Program which insures that parents receiving government aid are financially assisted by the state mandated wage garnishment, of the non custodial parent.  These were time limited positions for child support enforcement.

Polybabydadic

The majority of her time was spent in determining paternity.  This is how it works.  The mother gives a name, or five names (in some cases), and child support enforcement sets off to locate the potential fathers.  Once an address is obtained for these men, a letter is sent instructing them to come to the appropriate location for a paternity test.  Sometimes married men (or their wives), received these letters.  Once in the office the potential father could accept paternal responsibilities.  This was a rare occurrence. Normally the potential father would ‘deny’ that he is the father.

DNA Testing

DNA testing used to require the withdrawing of blood, but more recently ‘swabbing‘ has been used.  The baby, mother, and potential are all swabbed to obtain a sample of their DNA.  The DNA is then sent off to a laboratory and analyzed.  The mothers DNA ‘markers’ are noted and then subtracted from the DNA of the baby.  The remaining DNA should be a match with the real father.

Once Paternity is established, the father’s wages were assessed. There were guidelines for how much a father will pay.  It’s based on a percentage of his income per child.  If the father doesn’t have a job then the judge would set the child support based on a minimum wage job, at 40 hours per week.

Divorces

Mississippi passed a law in the 1990’s (which is often ignored) which states that all divorces involving children must have a child support withholding order.  A form would then be filled out by a Child Support Enforcement Officer and mailed to the employer of the non custodial parent. This was a wage garnishment form designed to help the government insure that babies in Mississippi are being taken care of.  Also, if the custodial parent is on some form of government assistance like Medicaid or Welfare, there is a state law which mandates the withholding order. This one is strictly enforced.

Licenses

Besides not being able to obtain a hunting or fishing license.  You could also be denied a Drivers License when you stand in line for one of these.  My Aunt relayed a story about a certain lawyer that would never pay his child support. The only way they could get him to pay was to threaten to remove his license to practice law. The Child Support Officer could use the same threats with a medical doctor.  The ability to disrupt the lives of the  non custodial parent seems to have no boundaries.

What if you leave the state?

Leaving the state won’t help you avoid paying child support.  You may prolong it, but you can’t avoid it by skipping the state. Thanks to the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement and Support Act, your arrest warrant for failure to pay child support follows you anywhere in the United States.  For example, one of the arrest warrants my Aunt had issued resulted in a man being arrested in California.  He was driving a tractor trailer loaded with produce. Although this was a routine traffic stop, once the man’s license was entered into the police computer, his warrant for failure to pay child support in Mississippi popped up.  He was arrested and his employer’s produce sat in the hot California sun, spoiling before making it to market.

How you are tracked

The government tracks its citizens thanks to a few interconnected circumstances.  This tracking is made possible by your Social Security Number, which is really how the government sees its citizens.  Using your Social Security Number to obtain employment, results in a W-2 being issued to the I.R.S..  Large companies have to report this information every three months. Smaller companies may only report this information at the end of the year.  Thanks to the Homeland Security Act, this process most likely alerts them as well.  But the end result is that a Child Support Officer knows where you are, and if they’re aggressive, you’ll be arrested.

Time in jail

Time in jail is only pursued if the Child Support Officer has a father or mother who refuses to cooperate.  You won’t go to jail if you are trying to pay your child support (actually paying, not just talking about paying).  Once the Officer feels that they have wasted enough time trying to get you to pay, they have a warrant issued to bring you before a judge.  Sometimes they may just lure you to the court with a subpoena, without mentioning that you’re going to be arrested when you arrive.  My Aunt relayed a heart breaking story of having to place a mother in jail who wouldn’t keep a job and pay her child support.  Since the split with her previous husband this woman had given birth to another child.  Inside the courtroom, the mother was placed in handcuffs and escorted to jail, leaving her one year old behind crying.

Once in jail, you’re stuck there until you get a job.  Now I know this sounds crazy, but my Aunt said that you couldn’t leave jail until you could prove that you had a job.  Normally family members took care of this obligation for their incarcerated loved ones.  The Child Support Officer actually does the legal writing.  They have a lawyer at their assistance that really does nothing more than just sign whatever gets placed in front of their face.  So your life of freedom is really in the hands of the Child Support Officer.

The squeaky wheel gets the oil

My Aunt said she averaged carrying around 800 ‘cases’ at any one time.  Also, she would only make appearances in court once a month.  So she would try and accomplish all she could on that day. She made it very obvious, in our conversation, that the custodial parents who were the most assertive with her, took priority over people who compained little.  So if your Ex loves the idea of harassing you, expect to hear from the Child Support Enforcement Officer often.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, it’s of no consequence for the female to have you in court as often as she’d like.  The judge always makes the man pay the court costs.

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