Does court-ordered child support help or hurt the child?

Divorce is often painful and on many occasions leads to complications. When it comes to the issue of child support, sometimes court-ordered child support has consequences for everyone involved. Divorcing couples in Orange County, California, may find themselves in the middle of painful disputes regarding child support. Appearing in court to settle the child support issue will determine how much money the supporting parent must pay; however, there may be aftereffects.

When a divorcing couple is in the process of settling their child support issue, everything will run smoothly as long as the supporting parent makes those child support payments on time and for the amount that the court ordered. On the other hand, if that parent fails to pay or lapses into a pattern of delinquent payments, that is when it can get complicated, and the parents and the children will suffer.

If the supporting parent fails to pay, there can be legal repercussions. Those repercussions can involve fines and imprisonment. Although the consequences are fair and just in the eyes of the law, from the perspective of the child, it must be very painful for the child to realize that his or her parent is behind bars. In many respects, that is bound to make the relationship between the parent and the child more complicated than it was before.

In a situation where the child support is not paid regularly, everyone loses. The objective of a child support arrangement in a divorced family is for the child to receive whatever is needed and deserved from the supporting parent. Part of what is deserved by the child is to have two loving parents who are there emotionally for him or her as well.

Residents in California who are experiencing similar child support challenges should seek help from an experienced and knowledgeable legal professional. The legal professional will be able to advise the person about their rights and the rights of the child or children. The legal professional will also be able to guide the parent through the process and give sound advice on which steps to take in order to come up with the most amicable solution possible.

Source: The Huffington Post, “Deadbeat Parents? State-Mandated Child Support Hurts The Ones It’s Supposed To Help,” Ellen Kellner, Mar. 15, 2013