Total Divorce Blog

Child support is often one of the most contentious aspects of divorces. In an interesting twist on this oftentimes controversial and divisive issue, a New York teen recently moved out of her mother’s home and sued for child support. It turns out that in New York, child support payments can continue in some instances until a child turns 21 years old. However, in this case, the teen’s request was denied.

Check out the article below to learn why the court denied the teen’s request:

Adult Child Moves Out and Sues Mom for Child Support.

Jermaine Jackson and his ex-wife Alejandra were in family court today to settle matters of child support and custody of their children.

Things didn’t go so well for Jermaine. The judge ordered him to begin paying child and spousal support and refused to give him the 50/50 custody arrangement he had wanted.

Jermaine reportedly only sees his sons, Jaffar and Jermajesty, on alternating weekends. Alejandra says that he is an unfit parent because he does no help them with homework, give them lunch money and forgets to pick them up from school. It seems that those would all be difficult and unnecessary tasks for every other weekend visitation though.

The judge did not grant Jermaine’s request for 50/50 custody, but instead ordered the pair to work on their custody arrangement through mediation.

Jermaine got another smack down in court when the judge ordered him to catch up on child and spousal support payments. He now must pay Alejandra $11,511 per month in support, retroactive to July 1.

Late last week, North Dakota Governor John Hoeven signed a new law that will transfer the administrative duties of the state’s child support enforcement program from counties to the state. The Department of Human Services was described as saying in an online KFYR-TV story that this change will allow for more consistent services and specialization of certain North Dakota child support programs. State legislators have said that this consolidation of resources will especially benefit families in need following a divorce and that children will ultimately be better off with a more uniform North Dakota child support system.

State Representative Clara Sue Price specifically said in the story that this consolidation of the North Dakota child support enforcement program will provide more tools and resources for specific situations, like when one parent lives out of state or there are visitation problems. Governor Hoeven also pointed out that this bill signed into law will save counties more than $15 million over the next four years. Hoeven said that these savings will be passed back to North Dakota citizens via property tax relief.

In addition to consolidating services, this new North Dakota child support law will also allow for eight child support enforcement office locations across the state. The KFYR-TV story added that $25.5 million will go toward the transfer of the enforcement program from counties to the state during the next four years.

Late last week, the Nevada Senate Judiciary Committee began to hear testimony on two bills that would change family law in the state. Specifically, Assemblyman John Carpenter lobbied to the committee on behalf of AB90, which would allow family members (excluding children) of a divorcing couple to attend divorce hearings, and AB117, which would fight paternity fraud in the state. An Associated Press story in the Las Vegas Sun detailed how no one spoke in opposition to these changes to current Nevada divorce and family law.

Current Nevada divorce law allows either party to ask for a private hearing. Under AB90, parents and siblings of the couple getting a divorce in Nevada would be able to sit in on the proceedings. Children of the divorcing couple would not be allowed to be present during the divorce hearing, and either party could still ask a judge to exclude a family member from the proceeding based on “good cause.” Carpenter explained to the Senate Judiciary Committee that family members should be allowed in divorce hearings to provide moral support for their loved ones during a highly difficult and stressful situation.

Carpenter’s other bill, AB117, would create the misdemeanor crime of paternity fraud in Nevada. Paternity fraud typically involves a man sending a friend or another imposter to take a required DNA test determining the father of the involved child. This proposed change to Nevada family law would equate the crime with a penalty of up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. The AP story said that test-evading fathers and their imposter assistants can not be charged under current Nevada law but may be held in contempt of court.

Ed Ewert, a Clark County deputy district attorney who works in family law, said in the story that these imposter cases make up only 1 to 2 percent of DNA testing cases in Nevada. However, Ewert added that a man who gets away with paternity fraud may ultimately escape paying tens of thousands of dollars during a child’s lifetime. Ewert suggested in the story that AB117 should make paternity fraud a gross misdemeanor and ultimately double the time in jail and the amount of the fine, and some members of the Senate Judiciary Committee agreed that stiffer penalties should be in line.

Both of these bills passed the Assembly last week. Be sure to frequently visit The Divorce Blog for the latest updates on these family law proposals in the Senate and other hopeful Nevada divorce laws currently in the legislature.

The Divorce Blog has previously detailed the “Duped Dads” issue in which men learn after divorce that they are not the biological father of their children and thus want to get out of child support payments. You can now add Missouri with states like Texas and Colorado to address this issue with new legislation that would better protect these “Duped Dads.” Specifically, Missouri Senate Bill 55 would allow men to bring forward DNA evidence at any time to prove that they are not obligated to pay child support.

Senator Chris Koster sponsored this bill in response to current law that he says is unjust and pretends that a man is the father even when DNA tests prove otherwise. According to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch story, current Missouri law presumes that a child born during wedlock is from the father. Furthermore, this law gives married and unmarried men a very limited time frame to challenge paternity. Specifically, a divorced man has one year to dispute a paternity finding. Unmarried men have only 60 days to contest paternity. Once this time frame expires, the story said that it is very hard for a duped father to shake paternity obligations, even when there are DNA tests.

The story detailed the case of Carnell Smith, who grew suspicious after his divorce whether he was the father of an 11-year-old girl that he believed was his daughter. Smith later learned through DNA evidence that he was not the girl’s father. At that time, he had already paid $100,000 in child support. While he wanted to maintain a relationship with the girl, Smith said that he did not want to pay for her support. According to Smith, his ex-wife said that she would not allow him to visit her if he stopped paying.

While this proposed Missouri child support law was obviously crafted with men like Smith in mind, it has also drawn much opposition. The story detailed concerns about this Missouri bill failing to consider the emotional relationships that would be affected when cutting parental ties. Melanie Jacobs, a law professor at Michigan State University, said in the story that men who have acted as fathers for children should not be allowed to disestablish paternity solely on biology.

As our other posts have shown, the “Duped Dads” issue is not without debate. We’ll keep you updated on any developments with this Missouri child support legislation and similar bills in other states.

The Divorce Blog has detailed the “Duped Dads” issue in the past, and a Texas state legislator is trying to protect those fathers who learn after divorce via DNA tests that they are not the biological parent of a child. State Representative Harold Dutton has introduced House Bill 774, which would add DNA tests to Texas child support cases. Current Texas law presumes that a child born during a marriage is a child of the marriage.

Specifically, this Texas legislation would not allow a court to make a father pay child support in an amount of greater than $100 on several conditions:

• if he learns through genetic testing that he is not the biological father of the child;

• if the mother knew he was not the father, and yet signed an acknowledgement of his paternity and initiated a proceeding for child support from him.

Dutton called these instances in which men believe that they are the fathers and thus pay child support payments for years before learning that they are not the biological parent a “huge problem” in a KHOU.com story. The story also detailed the case of Morgan Wise, who learned long after his divorce that two of his four children were not biologically his. Wise was quoted in the story as calling this discovery “the worst day of his life.”

While Dutton’s child support legislation has drawn some support, it has also raised concerns. Attorney Rick Flowers said that while he understands such anger, he feels there is a time to challenge paternity. According to Flowers, that time is before the divorce case. He added that these “Duped Dads” cases are very rare and estimated that he only sees them 1 out of every 300 clients. We’ll keep you updated on the latest developments with this Texas child support legislation.

While a divorce can be especially hard on children, a Jerusalem company is trying to make the process a lit bit easier with a computer game that aims to help kids cope with this major change in their lives. Zipland Interactive says that its new computer game, Earthquake in Zipland, is the first-research based game to tackle the problems that children may encounter following a divorce.

The game begins in Zipland, a small paradise kept together by a zipper which is supposed to represent the marriage of the island’s King and Queen in the story and the user’s parents in reality. When an earthquake separates Zipland and leaves the King and Queen on two different islands, the game’s main character “Moose” attempts to build a new zipper and bring everything back to the way it was. However, Moose realizes during his adventures that this is not possible and thus helps children playing the game deal with a wide variety of emotional issues surrounding divorce, including anger, guilt and this fantasy to reunite parents.

The creators of Earthquake in Zipland say the game uses techniques and insights from various fields, including child therapy and clinical psychology, to help kids deal with their parents’ divorce. Intended for ages 9-12, this innovative game is also recommended for therapists and school counselors. Watch an Earthquake in Zipland demo. As for parents who may be interested in using this game as a means to help their children following a divorce, they can learn more about it with this Parent’s Guide.