From: hopkins@apollo.hp.com (William Hopkins)
Subject: New Suggestion On:  Itemized accounting of child support
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 21:44:40 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Chelmsford, MA

In article <1993Jan6.221252.15622@linus.mitre.org> cgates@mitre.org (Curt Gates) writes:
>In article <1993Jan6.122354.6441@desire.wright.edu> 
>sbishop@desire.wright.edu writes:
>> I would have no problem with doing itemized accounting
>> for my foster son, it would certainly be worthwhile if it would make his
>> father shut up.  Hmmmm, how much am I supposed to allot a mile for 
>> transportation? 
>
>I am at a loss to even suggest something.  You are absolutely right. It 
>sure does get silly real soon.

How about this accounting method:

	Child support is put into a checking account
	by the NCP.  Only the CP can write checks.
	The NCP gets a copy of the statement and cancelled
	checks.  Direct withdrawals are not allowed.

	(Before flaming me about only the NCP putting
	 in money and only the CP taking out money, read
	 the last paragraph.)
	
	The CP writes checks to pay for the childrens
	expenses:
	
	  -- A monthly "rent" check representing
	     housing cost (which, incidentally, I
	     think should be based on "fair market
	     value" of the space used by the child,
	     just like the IRS figures it for purposes
	     of determining dependent status).

	  -- Checks made out to stores for clothing,
	     school supplies, and other necessary
	     expenses.

	  -- Checks made out to the children's school
	     for field trips, tuition, whatever.

	  -- A monthly check for food and whatever misc.
	     cash expenses are incurred.  This amount should
	     include reasonable amounts for odds and ends like
	     laundry, haircuts, etc.  It could be a reasonable
	     fixed amount, or vary month to month if the CP is
	     willing to calculate exact expenses every month.

This way, there is no (or very little) record-keeping
burden for the CP -- he or she simply writes checks for
purchases -- but the NCP has a pretty good idea where
the money's going.  The only area where the NCP doesn't
know *exactly* where the money's going is in the case
of the monthly "food/misc" check.  For that money, all
the NCP knows is that the CP drew $X for food and misc;
he or she doesn't know how it was actually spent.  This
is a minor problem, though; it should be pretty clear 
whether the amount is basically reasonable.  If there's
any issue, the CP could account for that money for a
month or two to establish a baseline, and then forget
about it.

If the CP was drawing money for purposes that didn't
seem directly related to support, the NCP would have
documentation for court; just as the CP would have good
evidence in his or her favor if the NCP was going to
court just to harass the ex.

Another advantage is that the CP may not spend all
the support, since he or she knows that the NCP can
tell where the money's going:  any leftover could be
applied to college, or handed over to the kids when
they are 21, or something.

If this system were instituted in every child support
case, it could also be used to generate more realistic
support guidelines:  if support is too high, there will
be money consistently left over in the account.  If 
support is too low, the account will consistently be
overdrawn.  In either case, records will be available
to the court that show how the money was actually spent.
And there's almost zero record-keeping burden.  In fact,
it creates a new market for banks and credit-unions:
a financial product exclusively for divorced/separated
parents!!

For cases of joint custody or substantial
visitation, where the NCP also has child
related expenses, there could be two accounts;
one for the NCP to draw on and one for the CP
to draw on.  Each parent could ante up their
contribution each month and divide it between
the two accounts based on the percentage of
time the children spend with each one.

Whad'ya think?

Will

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Will Hopkins                            Internet: hopkins@apollo.hp.com
 Chelmsford System Software Lab (CSSL)   Phone:    (508) 436-4966
 The Hewlett-Packard Company             Fax:      (508) 436-5103
Newsgroups: alt.dads-rights,alt.child-support,soc.men