From: bweiss@cs.arizona.edu (Beth Weiss)
Newsgroups: misc.legal
Subject: Re: Pre-Sex Contract
Keywords: sex, agreement, legal, contract
Date: 13 Dec 92 01:06:00 GMT
Organization: U of Arizona CS Dept, Tucson

> keithg@cnmhnet.UUCP (keith garrard) writes:
>I had to ask about the $4800 a year figure.  That works out to a
>flat $400 a month.  Now, I have always thought it was rediculous
>that a court grants a spouse an amount of "child support" that is
>the same every month.

I'm not sure why the amount being the same every month is so strange.
That's the way budgets usually work.

> What I'd like to see is a system whereby the parties involved split
>the costs of raising a child 50-50.

This I agree with, mostly.  In cases where the income ratio is very
different, a different split might be more appropriate, however.
This would be especially true if one party had given up career
opportunities to advance the other's, or to care for the children.
(Currently, that would normally be the woman; hopefully, it will
someday be equally likely to be the man.)

>The person having custody would 
>keep track of receipts, and once a month would meet with the other
>parent, and ask for their half of the expenses.  This would be more
>realistic and fairer to the person not having custody of the youngun.

This is ridiculous.  In fact, it's so ridiculous, I'll say it
again--this is ridiculous.   Expenses having to do with children (or
adults) can be reasonably budgeted.  For the custodial parent to have
to show _every_ receipt for _every_ school supply, _every_ can of
soda, _every_ trip to the grocery story (and which percentage as for
the children) is ridiculous.  THis would not be the slightest bit
realistic.  

On the other hand, a blanket statement "expenses are $n" isn't
realistic, either, and it's horribly unfair to the noncustodial
parent.  It makes a great deal more sense to budget out the cost of
supporting a child by category, and then set an appropriate amount for
one to pay the other (if necessary).

For example, food costs so much per month for a child.  That could be
pro-rated by frequency of custody.  (One parent may have the child
during the school week, the other on weekends.)  The parents could
determine how much clothing costs over a year, divide by 12, and
that's the amount to be split each month.  In order to decrease the
amount one parent pays the other, they might split categories.  So,
the primary custodial parent might pay for all food and clothing,
while the other parent pays for daycare, if that evens things out.
(And they shouldn't omit the 'stuff' category: poster board for
school, presents for other kid's birthday parties....)

>It is an unfair thing to say, but most of the time the mother has
>custody, and the father is ordered to pay support.  After paying 
>the wife alimony and child support, the poor man usually has to sleep 
>under bridges and eat out of garbage cans because he doesn't have
>enough left to live on.  I think there needs to be more equity in
>paying child support.

Absolutely there needs to be more equity.  "usually has to sleep under
bridges", though--don't you think you're being a bit extreme with a
term (usually) that means "most of the time".  Do you really believe
that more than 50% of non-custodial fathers are sleeping under bridges
(or are otherwise homeless)?




--
--Beth Weiss
bweiss@cs.arizona.edu