American man can’t go on honeymoon due to unpaid child maintenance

[SinkGirl]

Stumbled across this in a group on Facebook - newlyweds can’t go on honeymoon as he has $2500 of unpaid child support which in his state means he can’t get a passport.

I think this is bloody brilliant. And wonder why we don’t do it here. AIBU?

YABU - unpaid child support shouldn’t prevent you getting a passport
YANBU - if you owe lots of child maintenance, you shouldn’t be able to get a passport / driving license etc

Slightly concerned that his new bride is so unconcerned by the fact she’s marrying a deadbeat - good luck to her in the future, I think she will need it.
(apparently this person’s profile showed a very expensive wedding too!)

I think we should have similar here or even stricter for parents who fail to support their children financially themselves through work whether it be the RP or NRP.
It would hopefully make people think more before having them if they knew they had to support them not rely on others to do it.

Absolutely, not paying child maintenance should have legal consequences. I know of men who hide self employment income and men that leave employment just so they do not have to pay. Disgusting creeps.

The thing is if they know its a consequence they then have a CHOICE to pay or not and would also if their circumstances changed report.

I think its disgusting people get away with not paying

Surely it’s all coming soon. Covid vaccine status will most likely soon be digitally linked to passports (as the government are currently discussing) so soon enough it will be everything else. Tax/ child maintenance/ health info will surely all follow sooner or later.
I imagine it won’t be long before we’re all forced into a life of total compliance through our passports.

I don't disagree with the sentiment but in lots of cases getting jobs / renting houses requires proof of ID such as passports and driving licenses or in some cases are mandatory. Someone unemployed is going to be much harder to get any arrears out of.

Your driver's license can be suspended, but all 50 states offer a photo ID card, that's just that - an ID. Here in Ohio it costs about $12.

YANBU

icecream if an RP has the kids almost all of the time, the cost of her working rather than relying on others, ie benefits can be prohibitive unless she is in a very high paying job. It's perfectly reasonable for an RPs income to be from benefits if she is the primary carer of young children, for a few years at least. That's not the same as an NRP not paying, not working and / or job hopping to avoid being chased. They have basically no reason not to take any job, no matter what the hours, conditions, or commute involved as they don't have to juggle childcare too.

His new wife is probably like the woman who has and affairs
with a married man, and when he leaves his wife and kids for this new woman she thinks it won't happen to her in turn....

@ForThePurposeOfTheTape

I think the UK system should change to government pays RP (so there's no gaps in payment) and collects payment from NRP. Non-payment goes on credit score like other debts once it builds up to say 3 months worth.

Why the fuck should taxpayers pay someone's child maintenance? They already pay for the welfare system, now they should be paying someone's maintenance and then paying more to get it out of the deadbeat? Nope.

And the thing about the US is that it's pretty shit to be long-term unemployed. You're not treated to even UC after a while. So it's all the most incentive for these deadbeats to pay up.

Because the government does a better job of chasing money owed to them than money owed to resident parents. If taxpayers don't get their money back, politicians will be more incentivised to punish non-payers which in the long-term means fewer children kept in poverty.

I suppose there should probably be an exception for working abroad. Like how are you going to pay if you can't work and your work is abroad.

I don’t understand why it’s the government’s responsibility in the first place. Dads that don’t pay maintenance are shite it’s true but that’s a personal thing between two people who have children together. My ex didn’t pay maintenance so I ensured he had the kids 50/50 so I could work full time also. In fairness that was fine because he’s a good dad. I find it odd the amount of dads that ‘suddenly become abusive/lazy/uninterested’ once they have a child/children but mothers never do (allegedly)

In terms of the driving licence concerns, yes having your license removed would make it more difficult to work and to pay child support.

But if you can’t work you can’t support yourself either (or pay medical bills in the US, especially without a job with insurance), so all the more reason not to get behind on your maintenance isn’t it?

My mum took my vile abusive father to court for unpaid maintenance several times that I remember. He was well paid, but opened company after company to avoid as much as he could. His work involved travelling overseas a lot - I’ll bet if he couldn’t get a passport he would have paid the pittance of maintenance he should have been paying.

@ForThePurposeOfTheTape

Because the government does a better job of chasing money owed to them than money owed to resident parents. If taxpayers don't get their money back, politicians will be more incentivised to punish non-payers which in the long-term means fewer children kept in poverty.

No, they won't. There will never be backing for this because there's already a welfare system in place for impoverished children. And there's already a CMS, there's no need for another bureaucracy that costs a fortune and doles out money to parents.

The US system in many states is far better. Taxpayers shouldn't be doing the job of parents unless absolutely necessary.

Is there a link?

I support the sentiment but don't agree a driving licence should be forfeited, as it would help improve employment prospects.

@minniemomo

It's shame that courts in the USA don't seem order decent child maintenance, several friends are verging on destitute despite having exh's who earn $200k + and new trophy wives. Yes they got the house as settlement but kids need to eat!

I think it depends on what state you're in.

I know people in California who have a very different experience.

One person I know earning that sort of money is paying over $2,000 (£1,446) a month in child support, and that's the state mandated amount, the Californian equivalent of the CMS calculation.

My ex didn’t pay maintenance so I ensured he had the kids 50/50 so I could work full time also. In fairness that was fine because he’s a good dad. I find it odd the amount of dads that ‘suddenly become abusive/lazy/uninterested’

Well good for you 🙄 but it’s well known that domestic violence usually begins when a woman becomes pregnant

@SenecaFallsRedux

Someone who is unemployed or under-employed whose history shows that he has been striving in good faith to pay when able is much more likely to be able to keep his drivers' license than someone who has just ignored efforts (usually by the child support enforcement agency) to enforce his obligations.

yes, they are called bailiff boys - hide their money, get a crappy job til the bailiff shows up to check on them and confirm they are too low paid to pay more than a pittance, then they are out of there and back to having a lot more pay/money. Its amazing how many men think they only have to pay if they still live with the children/mother.

@Lockheart

I don't disagree with the sentiment but in lots of cases getting jobs / renting houses requires proof of ID such as passports and driving licenses or in some cases are mandatory. Someone unemployed is going to be much harder to get any arrears out of.

Are you in England? I've never heard of anyone having to have a passport, where is that mandatory?

The US example seems fine to me, serves him right for being a deadbeat dad. Even if it's a made up story it's a good idea.

Of course he can go on honeymoon, he just can’t go overseas. Nothing wrong with Hawaii! It’s a great policy. When I became a US citizen and applied for my American passport I had to declare if I owed any child support (and if I had any children) and a search was performed to make sure I don’t.

In some cases you lose your drivers license also if you are in child support arrears. If you need to drive to work you can be issued with a permit that permits you to drive between home and your workplace only at specified times.

Solution? Don’t fall into arrears and it’ll not be a problem. As for the bride mentioned in the article, well what a prize of a man she’s got. Why she thinks he’ll suddenly become husband/father of the year now that he’s marrying her is anyone’s guess.

The CMS does have very clear and usable powers to remove passports for non payment of child maintenance, it just chooses not exercise those powers. it removed something like 6 passports last year.

@ForThePurposeOfTheTape

What happens if you don't pay your Council tax? Sorry, Yank asking.

Extreme cases prison but usually it involves court action and bailiffs depending on how much you owe or engage with the authorities.

There are women owed 5 figure sums and the CMS asks women to write it off when kids get to 18 or the debt gets big.

@ForThePurposeOfTheTape

I'm fairly sure you can't be imprisoned for non payment of council tax

@Happycat1212

My ex didn’t pay maintenance so I ensured he had the kids 50/50 so I could work full time also. In fairness that was fine because he’s a good dad. I find it odd the amount of dads that ‘suddenly become abusive/lazy/uninterested’

Well good for you 🙄 but it’s well known that domestic violence usually begins when a woman becomes pregnant

Don’t be ridiculous. Of course that’s true, I’m not stupid. However, Its not hard to support one child if you have a full time income and UC support...and if your ex is violent, no way would I want their bloody maintenance anyway.

@HelenHywater

The CMS does have very clear and usable powers to remove passports for non payment of child maintenance, it just chooses not exercise those powers. it removed something like 6 passports last year.

Came on to post the exact same thing. The CMS is appalling. I've always said that they should have to make the payments to the resident payment themselves and pursue the non resident parent for payment. I'm pretty sure they'd start using those powers if there was some scrutiny of how much public money they were recovering.

in lots of cases getting jobs / renting houses requires proof of ID such as passports and driving licenses or in some cases are mandatory.

@FlyingBurrito
Are you in England? I've never heard of anyone having to have a passport, where is that mandatory?

I would suspect that the person you asked is in the UK.

Are you really unaware that you need to show evidence that you have the right to work in the UK when you start a job or that you have the right to live in the UK when you rent a property?

You cannot rent anywhere in England unless you can prove that you have the right to live here.

This is a check that applies to all new tenants, and it’s against the law for a landlord to only check people they think aren’t British citizens. As such, you should expect your landlord to ask you for proof you can legally live here regardless of your nationality.

If people don't have a passport then they can use other things like a birth certificate.