[Blanco]

I'm glad the politicos in GA are finally addressing this situation. Where-as before they used to rely soley on the Non-Custodial parent income to assess child support, they are now going to include both parents income.

Folks in GA can read more here.... http://www.gachildsupport.org/

1) Georgia's guidelines were originally intended for Title IV-D welfare recipients, not for middle or high income families.

2) Ga Code 19-6-15 applies in situations where the father or non-custodial parent is absent from the child's life and is the sole income provider to the custodial parent, normally the mother.

3) There are 18 factors in the current law that can be considered when determining child support. Normally, they are not considered since it is easier to simply apply a percentage against one person's gross income.

4) Both parties are to provide financial information, however child support is calculated against the non-custodial parent's income only.

5) Mandatory taxes are not considered.....percentages are applied against GROSS not net, which can cause your child support to be more than 40% of your take-home pay. Don't even think about saving for retirement! The custodial parent pays expenses from their net pay, but not a non-custodial.

6) Visitation time is not considered even if you are paying for child care, food, maintaining a room for the child. Even if you spend 50% of the year with your children...

7) Overtime, commissions, bonuses are used to calculate child support even though this is a not a 'guaranteed' source of income. Even if you won an award in a photo contest, this can be viewed by a Judge as 'you did it once, you can do it again...'.

8) You can be forced to pay for add-ons..anything over and above standard costs for raising a child. You could be sent to jail because you could not afford braces or soccer dues.

9) Our current guideline is NOT based on economic factors. The more money you earn, the more it costs to raise your child...according to our current law anyways. Economics state that the costs of raising a child remain the same regardless of the incomes of the parents. Georgia believes that a box of cereal costs more if you earn more.

10) Georgia's law remains the same as it did in 1989 even though Federal mandates requires states to revise their guidelines based on case studies and economic conditions/factors.

11) Georgia's law was based on tax law of 1982 in which a non-custodial parent could claim the child if they were providing more than half of their support....the tax law has changed since then....A custodial parent now receives the tax benefit and child support...tax FREE!

12) There isn't a ceiling on child support.

13) If you have children from a prior marriage/relationship or even a current one, these children will suffer. They are not included when awards are calculated even if they require special medical care etc. Judges and feminist groups claim that if you can't afford your first kids, then you shouldn't have anymore.....yet a mother is rewarded for having multiple children by multiple fathers by our government and court systems.

14) Extra money spent on your children is considered a 'gift' and is not applied towards child support. Also known as 'in-kind contributions'.

15) If you lose your job due to no control of your own, you cannot ask for a modification of child support, unless it has been two years since your last modification.

16) Child support can be based on what the Judge thinks you can make..not on what you actually earn. Also called, 'imputing'.

17) Yes, your current husband/wife's income and assets CAN be garnished to satisfy arrearages even though they are not legally obligated to support those children! File taxes and bank separately if you are in any kind of committed (legal or non-legal) relationship.

18) Private collection agencies are hired by the state to collect child support. These companys are not regulated and are being paid to operate by the state...shouldn't the state spend that money on other programs? If child support were affordable, there wouldn't be much need for these private collection agencies. FYI: If you pay to any of these agencies (Family Support Registry, Maximus etc) you need to keep a close eye on all payments even if they are garnishments. This does not mean that the money ever made it to the other parent....you could end up back in court on contempt even though you have been paying all along. The records from these agencies will be used as evidence and remember, they are not regulated and their records are NOT accurate.

19) Georgia says that it's 'okay' if you are completely absent from a child's life, as long as you are sending a check each month. When it the last time you heard of someone being jailed because they never exercised their visitation?

20) If you have a professional license, you are punished more severely than someone who just has a driver's license. Even if both payers owe the same amount of child support, one of you is going to lose your ability to work and earn money while one is only going to lose their ability to drive.

21) Paragraph XXIII of the Georgia Constitution states, ' There shall be no imprisonment for debt'. The United States did away with Debtor's Prison hundreds of years ago..why are parents being jailed for child support arrearages?

22) Again, back to the 18 factors used to deviate. Even if a Judge uses one of these factors, there are no instructions on how to calculate the support amount based on the deviation.

23) Child support was designed to recover welfare payments made to mothers because of the father's absence. Have you ever heard of welfare being $1500/month? When this amount is unaffordable, it sends a father to jail and the mother on welfare....taxpayers lose this battle.

24) There is a federal incentive to set high child support payments. The higher they are, the more the state collects. Then the federal government will match 6 cents per dollar to help fund enforcement programs. The state, in turn, uses this money for Maximus and other agencies....unfair child support guidelines are great for Georgia's economy!

25) You can't get a second job to help with child support, because this too, can be included as your income, even though you took the second job to help 'make ends meet'.

26) A basic self-support reserve dollar amount is overlooked in calculated child support. You could be left with little or nothing to live on.

27) Georgia is(WAS) 1 out of 3 states that uses these kinds of misguided calculations.

28) Wisconsin is going to change their guidelines since they have admitted that their guidelines do not work....

We are based on Wisconsin's guidelines.

29) Tennessee has changed from a % of obligor model to an income shares. This was enacted, not by the legislative body, but by the Governor. Soon, Georgia will be one of the last states to use a % of obligor!

30) It should not be the "trier of fact's" burden to show that deviations are necesary. If you do not understand the guidelines, you would not ask this..therefore it would be up to your attorney (if you can afford one). If they don't ask, then your out of luck.

31) Georgia law is designed to invite, rather than minimize, further litigation over support awards. If our lawmakers truly cared about our families, they would adopt an economical, accurate law that would keep our money out of the courtrooms in our childrens' bank accounts!!!

32) If you have made it this far, write your legislator and ask them to continue to adopt fair laws for our families and children.