Child Support Awareness

I guess, I am one of the lucky ones. My parents lived together til death do them part and raised 5 children. Sometimes they struggled but I can recall many great times. My parents were there together for all of us. I have been blessed to be married for 30 years and my six children have been blessed to live in a 2 parent family. They may have had the same dream for their own family but it was not to be. My oldest daughter with her 2 children came home a couple of years ago. My grand-children have 2 parents that love them greatly but could not make it together Every other weekend my grand children see their father and he in return pays child support. I am sure many know how the system of child support works

Last year we were blessed to gain a daughter when our youngest son married her. Not only did we gain a daughter in law but also a wonderful grandson. This was a blessing to us. We soon learned that the dilemma of her first husband and the babies father was not as charming. Our new grandson who is now 5 had received child support from his father on and off since his parents split up. A few months ago, the father filed court papers to stop paying child support. When this did not happen he decided that if the only way to get out of paying child support was to sign his rights to his child away he would. Now, this is a good thing in many ways. My son who loves this young man will be adopting him formally but it is sad that he will never know his real father until possibly if he looks for him when he is older It is also sad that his own father did not want to pay up for his son.

You may say that our father has seen both sides of the Child Support situation. But where did thee Child Support system start when and where??

Child Support Laws in every state in the U.S. has a program to help families pay, process and collect support payments. States can work across state lines to ensure that payments are collected and distributed. It was not always this way but in the early nineteenth century, Americas courts declared that current laws did not provide for support action. Past laws ruled that father had only a non enforceable moral duty to support his children. The only way that a father had to pay any money to the child was through a contract with the child's father if one existed. However, there was a law for recovery of support costs in certain circumstances. The poor laws gave parishes power to collect funds spent in caring for mother and her children where no father was a provider.

In 1808 the Supreme court of Connecticut ruled that a mother could recover support from her first husband. The court ruled that children's father was legally bound to "protect, educate and maintain their legitimate children" Other states soon joined in with the decision that fathers could be held financially responsible.

The 1950's , 60's and 70s would see the child support system grow with more enforcement If you need more information or are looking for the laws for your state you should visit here