Later questioning of practitioners confirmed that cross-crediting was widely understood within the profession. The project carried on developing prototype guidelines and delving into the remaining mysteries and problems in creating a complete and accurate mathematical decision model. And of course we did the obligatory work of reviewing and criticizing existing guidelines. It was somewhat surprising that cross-crediting had not been included in federally funded technical work on developing child support guidelines, but then established child support principles and practice were not related to federally funded work. One explanation is that states systematically eliminated the basic principles that had been established for making child support awards.
Child support is for the care and maintenance of children.
Both parents have an equal duty to support their children. All relevant circumstantial information may effect the amount of the award. State courts no longer have a rational basis upon which to determine what is required in the formulation of a just and proper child support award amount. More often than not, state statutes merely point to their guidelines. Author Sanford Braver conducted the largest federally funded study of divorced fathers.