What You Need to Know About Child Support

One of the most frequent topics on the About Fatherhood Forum relates in some way to child support. In this excellent article from the 'Lectric Law Library, most of the common questions about child support are answered in an understandable way.

Child support is an emotional subject. Parents who are supposed to receive it on behalf of their children often do not. Parents who are supposed to pay it often cannot, or choose not to for a variety of reasons that are not legally recognized. It is the children who suffer the most when child support levels are inadequate or obligations are not met. Therefore, the trend in all states is to increase child support levels and the ways child support obligations can be enforced. 1. How long must parents support their children?

Biological parents and adoptive parents must support their children until:

• the children reach the age of majority (and sometimes longer if the children have special needs)
• the children go on active military duty, or
• the parents' rights and responsibilities are terminated (such as when a child is adopted).

Parents are not required to support children who have been declared emancipated by a court. Emancipation can occur when a minor has demonstrated freedom from parental control or support and an ability to be self-supporting.

2. How are child support obligations affected by a divorce?

When one parent is awarded sole custody in a divorce, the other parent typically is required to fulfill his or her child support obligation by making payments to the custodial parent. The custodial parent, however, meets his or her support obligation through the custody itself. When parents are awarded joint physical custody in a divorce, the support obligation of each is often based on the ratio of each parent's income to their combined incomes, and the percentage of time the child spends with each parent.

3. Are fathers who never married the mother still required to pay child support?

The short answer to this question is yes. When a mother is not married, however, it's not always clear who the father is. An "acknowledged father" is any biological father of a child born to unmarried parents for whom paternity has been established by either the admission of the father or the agreement of the parents. Acknowledged fathers are required to pay child support. Additionally, a man who never married may be presumed to be the father of a child if he welcomes the child into his home and openly holds the child out as his own. In some states, the presumption of paternity is considered conclusive, which means it cannot be disproved, even with contradictory blood tests.

4. Do unmarried fathers have to pay child support even if none has been ordered by a court?

Yes. The obligation to pay child support does not depend on marriage or a court order. Where most unmarried fathers encounter this principle is when the mother seeks public assistance. Sooner or later the welfare department will pursue the father for reimbursement based on his support obligation. Sometimes this happens many years later, and the father is required to pay thousands of dollars in back support that he never knew he owed because there was no court order.

5. Is a stepfather obligated to support the children of the woman to whom he is married?

No, unless he legally adopts the children.