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what a concept......... (reply to all)
"frazil" wrote That was not my point at all. The equal chance for an equal outcome does not guarantee that the result will actually be an equal outcome. How each parents manages their resources, and where they place their priorities, is up to them. Outcome is never guaranteed. The kids do have a reasonable expectation of relatively similar living conditions and educational and recreational opportunities with both parents. I think the key word here is "their" resources. Your proposal blurs that distinction. It seems under your proposal, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that your 50/50 division of resources would rob parents of the consequences of their individual choices made prior to their marriage. IOW, if a made choices in my life before I got married that results in my earning $75,000 per year and I have a child with someone that makes $25,000 per year, why should I have to give them $25,000 per year. Even the CS formula guidelines aren't that draconian. It is somewhat blurry because the entire situation has been blurred by the parental breakup to begin with. BECAUSE the two had kids together, they are, and will always be, a family, at least to some minimal degree. That may be not be a pleasant thoght to some. I know I certainly woudl prefer to never see my ex again, but reality is that we are forever inextriciably tied together because we had kids together. Strictly enforced, I do know that my idea would not be fair to high wage earners, but making a provision for that would be in order. Or, maybe instead of 50/50, a standard level for a decent living be established, and I don't mean merely the government's "poverty line". For example let's say a *decent* living in a particular area or state would be $30,000/yr. One person makes $75,000/yr and the other makes $25,000/yr. The person who makes more would pay the other $5,000/yr to get them up to a *decent* income level. In extreme low-income situations no money should change hands. I see it as enhancing the consequences of their actions, but that is a subjective opinion and I can see how one would see it the other way. Also, I don't think the kids have any expectations. Society, may have expectations of relatively similar living conditions and educational and recreational opportunities, but I don't think the kids do. But assuming they do, how does your system achieve that, considering that many middle income NCPs end up with a lower standard of living than middle income CPs under current guidelines that demand much less than the 50/50 split you advocate. Consciously, kids don't, but they do notice differences between homes and even their homes and their friend's homes. In an ideal world we can say government and society has no business in how kids are raised, but putting the genie back in the bottle is virtually impossible. My concept does nothing to guarantee equal standards of living. Again, outcome cannot be guaranteed or legislated. That's not the point. Opportunity is the point. I think the far better approach is to honestly determine how much it costs to raise a child, and base any CS obligation on that cost and the NCPs ability to pay. Technically, I agree with you 100%. "Cost" only should be split. But, how much does it "cost"? Ask 100,000 people and get 100,000 different answers. In an effort to be as fair as possible, I think you'd still end up with an average. Also, how do you judge "ability to pay"? In my own experience, granted this is just my experience, in the first 5 years post-divorce and paying CS, my standard of living was significantly below that of my ex, the CP. And I payed the guideline amount which is significantly less than what your 50/50 system would require of me. I would suspect that there's more to the story. Possibly your ex re-married someone with a good income? Did the guidline amounts leave you with less than her? Were you saddled with the majority of the bills to pay off while she got to start over? I agree with your goal of trying to minimize the disparity of living conditions between CP and NCP, but your system would result in greater disparity than the current system which typically only demands about 17 percent of income from the NCP. That is my goal. Just floating ideas to try and achieve it. |
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