Does Jail Time Make Sense for Those Owing Child Support?
by
Daniel M. Copeland on Apr. 11, 2014
Divorce & Family Law Child Custody Divorce & Family Law Child Support Divorce & Family Law Family Law
Summary: In many instances, a custodial parent might agree that individuals who aren’t paying their child support should be made to deal with the consequences.
In many instances, a custodial parent might agree that individuals who aren’t paying their child support should be made to deal with the consequences. If the father leaves the country just to get out of paying child support, many parents feel that they should have to spend some time sitting in jail and thinking about what they did. Sending the other party to jail isn’t always going to be the smartest move, which is what happened in a case recently.
When it first started, the ex-wife of the infamous fugitive was set in her ways of having him locked up for what he had caused her and the children to go through over the years. After she took some time to sit back and think about it, she decided that prison time wasn’t going to work in the best interest of the family. She wanted him to go out, get a job and start paying the money he owed to her and the kids. To make the situation worse, he has another ex that he owes child support money to as well. She has yet to comment on the case. This simply makes a bad situation worse.
Another man who owes about $1 million in child support ended up leaving the country. When on vacation with the family out of the country, he told his wife that he wasn’t going back to the US with them. Once they returned home, she found that he had emptied the bank accounts, quit his job and sold their home. He has been caught and is looking at time in prison for not paying child support.
Whenever the parent without custody fails to pay their support obligations, it causes a hardship for the parent that has custody of the children. Many parents that don’t have custody aren’t able to pay because of something that happened that they couldn’t control. Many end up resuming their payments as soon as they are able to do so. The main question is whether those individuals should end up in prison or not. Many feel the best thing would be to make the parent get a job and pay the money back as part of a probation deal. Another thing to consider is letting them make an application to have their payments reduced because of the financial hardship it is causing until they are able to get back on track. Having a reputable Jacksonville divorce attorney on your side will surely help you get the family law guidance that you may need.
