Deadbeat parent
Deadbeat dad is a pejorative term (primarily U.S.) that refers to men who have fathered a child but fail to pay the amount of child support calculated by the relevant government agency as due to the mother or normally the agency itself for disbursement to the mother or to compensate the government for expenses it incurs for support paid to the mother. Some of these men may have been nominated by the mother as the father of her child at the time she sought welfare from a government welfare agency. This male may have had a casual or no relationship with her prior to being nominated.
It has historically been used in reference to fathers who fail to act responsibly (as judged by wider society) as a father, that is neglecting their role to act as a parent. These men may reside with their children or be separated through divorce or otherwise, with children in the care of their mother.
According to Fox News:
- Non-payment of child support is a significant problem in the United States. According to the Federal Office of Child Support, in 2003, $96 billion in accumulated unpaid support was due to children in the United States; 68 percent of child support cases were in arrears. An overwhelming majority of children, particularly minorities, living in single-parent homes where child support is not paid live in poverty.
By comparison, the child support that does get properly paid represents one of the largest transfers of wealth within the U.S. economy.
Deadbeat dad legislation in the US
The U.S. law commonly known as the Bradley Amendment was passed in 1986 to automatically trigger a non expiring lien whenever child support becomes past-due.
- The law overrides any state's statute of limitations.
- The law disallows any judicial discretion, even from bankruptcy judges.
- The law requires that the payment amounts be maintained without regard for the physical capability of the person owing child support (the obligor) to make the notification or regard for their awareness of the need to make the notification.
Many US states have passed "deadbeat dad laws" that allows the Department of Motor Vehicles in the state to use its information to find the "deadbeat dad" and call him to account for his actions. Of course, such laws apply to both men and women who owe child support, but the corresponding term would be "deadbeat mom".
There are now many collections-oriented sites on the Internet that mention or highlight deadbeat dads, some even showing mug shots and marking the photos as "found" in the style of the FBI's "most wanted" list.
Deadbeat parents
Non-custodial parents who avoid their child support obligations are often termed dead-beat parents. This prejudicial characterization of parents ignores the fact that many non-custodial parents are simply unable to pay at the rates they have been assessed. The US Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 68% of child support cases had arrears owed in 2003 (a figure up from 53% in 1999). Many of these arrearage cases are due to administrative practices such as imputing income to parents where it does not exist and issuing default orders of support. Some non-custodial parents claim their payments are too high. According to one study 38% of Illinois non-custodial parents not paying child-support said they lacked the money to pay. Twenty-three percent used non-payment to protest a lack of visitation rights. Fourteen percent complained of no accountability over the spending of their child support money, while 13% said they didn't want their child(ren) and 12% denied parentage. Additionally, some non-custodial parents who have been subject to acrimonious divorces often see these payments as unfair and excessive. Some custodial parents who have been victimized in abusive relationships view the avoidance of child support payments as another means of their spouses perpetuating the abuse.
Action taken against defaulting parents
In the United States, many states suspend an individual's licenses (i.e. driver's license, business license, contractor license) if that individual has significant arrearage in support payments or does not consistently pay support. This authority does not extend to professionals who receive licensure through non-governmental agencies. In 2000, the state of Tennessee revoked the driver’s licenses of 1,372 people who collectively owed more than $13 million in child support. In Texas non-custodial parents behind more than three monthsin child-support payments can have court-ordered payments deducted from their wages, can have federal income tax refund checks, lottery winnings, or other money that may be due from state or federal sources intercepted by child support enforcement agencies, can have licenses (including hunting and fishing licenses) suspended, and a judge may sentence a nonpaying parent to jail and enter a judgment for past due child support. Some have taken the view that such penalties are unconstitutional, even alleging that "The People employed in the family courts and family court services are criminals" However, on September 4, 1998, the Supreme Court of Alaska upheld a law allowing state agencies to revoke driver's licenses of parents seriously delinquent in child support obligations. And in the case of United States of America v. Sage, U.S. Court of Appeals (2nd Cir., 1996), the court upheld the constitutionality of a law allowing federal fines and up to two years imprisonment for a person willfully failing to pay more than $5,000 in child support over a year or more when said child resides in a different state from that of the non-custodial parent. Child Support Recovery Act of 1992
But, like any other past-due debt, the obligee, typically a mother, may forgive what is owed to her.
When past-due child support is owed to a state as a result of welfare paid out, the state is free to forgive some or all of it under what's known as an offer in compromise.
Terminology
A note about the term “Dead-beat parent” this a descriptive term used more by Child Support advocacy groups than by Child Support Agencies. Child Support Agencies described clients either as in compliance, not in compliance or criminally non compliant. Compliance is judged by the paying party's performance in meeting the terms of the Child Support court order.
See also
External links
- In Defense of 'Deadbeat' Dads - suggesting deadbeat dads should be released to ease prison crowding
- Deadbeat Parents Punishment Act
- "Today, a child support violator can be prosecuted under Federal law" - child support enforcement