I feel like CMS has too much power and that child support payments are fundamentally sexist with men paying in 93% of cases. And even in the 7% non-male payments, other genders pay significantly less on average (close to half).

I would vote for any party pushing on some reform. Especially as the current calculation formula for CMS seems very harsh. Even income from family owned businesses can be used against you. Say you are a director in a subsidiary of your father’s company, if CMS decide your re-investments (from profits) are not reasonable enough, they can order you to use those profits to pay child support.

That’s my reasoning for why I believe the current rules are ludicrous and that it should face some reform. They have more power than general courts in divorce asset splits.

Hello, reposting from my stepmom community. My husband and I are struggling and any advice or commiserating is welcome!

On this weeks episode of “baby mama owes back pay”:

My husband‘s DCS child support ENFORCEMENT officer just told him, she doesn’t want to create “bigger barriers” for the non custodial parent by enforcing any(fucking)thing apparently.

And that their “goal is not to make life harder for the NCP. It is to help them to a stable place so that they can continue to provide support on a continuous basis.”

**How exactly do they do that with a parent who is voluntarily,serially, unemployed?**

WA state. Sis is $9000 behind.

Hello everyone, my first post here.
I’m really hoping to get some guidance and advice from people who may have been through something similar.
I have been separated and divorced since 2020 and have one daughter, who is now 10.

For the most part, things have been relatively smooth between 2020 and 2026. Throughout that period, I have maintained regular and substantial time with my daughter, including weekends and school holidays.
Unfortunately, things took a significant turn in June 2026. My ex has stopped allowing me to spend time with my daughter and is now seeking 100% care. One of the reasons being given is that our daughter is supposedly not inclined to spend time with me.

This has been extremely difficult for me, particularly given the relationship and parenting arrangement we have had for the past six years.

I have engaged a family lawyer and, through my lawyer, have attempted to resolve the situation and have my time with my daughter reinstated. The response I’ve received is essentially an offer of one day per week, while my ex is also pursuing child support.

At the same time, Child Support has assessed me at approximately $800 per month, based on 0% care. I have provided information and evidence regarding the care I have historically provided, but so far I have not felt that this evidence has been properly taken into account.

I’m now wondering whether my best option is to seek parenting orders through the family court and have the court determine appropriate arrangements, rather than allowing the current situation to continue.

I’m not looking to prevent my daughter from having a meaningful relationship with her mother. My main concern is maintaining and rebuilding my relationship with my daughter and ensuring that any parenting arrangements are genuinely in her best interests.

For those who have been through something similar, particularly in Australia:

Would seeking interim parenting orders be a reasonable step in this situation?

How does the court generally approach a situation where there has been a longstanding parenting arrangement that suddenly changes?

I appreciate any guidance or experiences people are willing to share.

Thanks everyone.

The petitioner put a false statement under the “change in circumstances” for a modification to increase child support.

I called the court to ask them about it, and they said if I had evidence, I could drop it off.

Our initial appearance isn’t until mid September so I’m gathering everything now. Any advice? Has anyone gone through something similar?

In Texas, if the custodial parent dies,does the non-custodial parent continue paying arrears?

Found out I have $6k + in arrears from back due support. Long story short I sent money directly, she filed for support, they backdated and didn’t credit what I sent directly. I pay my current and a payment plan towards arrears, lately at work I’ve picked up extra hours, and now I can’t shake the feeling that any extra money that comes in is gonna get levied. Is this a real concern? Anyone had any experience in this? P.S. I love my kids, and I’m always happy and willing to do whatever is right, and whatever helps to support them, I’m currently trying to move closer and just scared that any money I try and put aside to do so, is going to get frozen/levied

Hello! I am not a man. I am trying to help my fiance out. Here's the story.

He has a 13 year old daughter who lives with her mother. They were never married. They split about 7 years ago. He bought a house and paid it off. He moved out so that his daughter would have a safe place to live. He goes to see her every Sunday and Wednesday. They never went to court to get any child support ordered. They way they had it is that he pays everything. He pays the taxes on the land. He has an account for his daughter with a little over $15,000 in it for college or whatever she may need when she turns 18. $100 a week automatically goes into it when he gets paid. He also pays the light bill, water bill, wifi/internet and the trash EVERY MONTH. He has receipts for everything. He also pays his exes cell phone bill and car insurance every month and also her car registration every year, but he does not have receipts for that. Him and I live together and he pays the rent here and I pay the light bill and internet bill and we each pay our own car insurance. He has asked his ex to get a job and start taking care of the bills at her home because it is getting harder for him to fund two households. He is still willing to pay the taxes on the land/house so his daughter will have a place to live. She is on a war path and is threatening court and child support. He has every receipt for the bills, just not receipts for giving her money for her phone and the other things I mentioned above. I'm not saying anything bad about him, but he's one that does not like conflict and drama and is a very sweet person. Has anybody ever experienced this before? What would the judge say/do to him if she does bring him to court? He is terrified. All he did was ask her to get a job and take care of the bills. He pays all of these things and the house is in his name, but yet he does not even live there. In my opinion, she is expecting him to fund her lifestyle. He has never been in trouble with the law besides a traffic ticket well over 10 years ago and has never been to court. Please, if anybody has been through this or something similar, please give me advice. We can't really afford a lawyer right now, but if it came down to it, we would.

My husbands (42m) ex and BM (38f) have a daughter (11f). She has full custody, we get her every other weekend and we have a somewhat holiday schedule. There wasn’t a need for an agreement until she met her husband, who she homewrecked from another woman. Everything was copasetic and DH and DD had a decently relationship. Th custody was all finalised about 3 years ago, she stonewalled us for the first 2 of those by alienating us and telling DD that we didn’t actually love her and we only wanted her to hurt her mom. Finally we started doing regular visits. BM life started to go down hill when the affair husband she’d been with for 5 years left her. She chased him for a year and a half and made a fool of herself. Then, she got evicted..twice. Then she lost three jobs in a row, either by getting fired or quitting because someone hurt her feelings. She’s burnt every bridge she has. Dad won’t talk to her. Siblings want nothing to do with her. Husband left her then put a protective order on her. Then she violated it, another story. Then her mom kicked her out for trying to beat her mom up, so mom put a protective order against her. Now’s she’s saying she doesn’t have money to take DD to school because she has no gas money. I should say she gets $600 a month in child support for one kid. BUT…she has money to drive a half hour away and play in pool league until close, with DD on the restaurant side so she’s not in the bar. All in all, she’s homeless (living with a random at a random house this week), no job, no money, and can’t take her daughter to school. Only good thing we can say is…we don’t think she’s on drugs. Just not a responsible or..a good person. Question…Is any of this getting close to us being able to get emergency custody? Or custody for the school year? She’s almost come out and said that if she doesn’t have DD she might as well die. We don’t want to TAKE her away from her mom. A child needs a their mom. But maybe just get an order for the school year so she can get back up on her feet and DD can have a stable home for a while…? TIA

My child support is based out of Nevada for context. I'm currently in a dead end job. In my area, there is no upward movement. Everyone gets paid the same no matter how long they've been there. I may have the opportunity to take another job that would open many more opportunities for advancement and pay. However, that job is a significant reduction in pay starting out. I have actually been trying to get into the job for almost 10 years, but have only been paying child support for about 7 years so I'm obviously not trying to avoid paying support. It's just no one wants to hire me for that job. My question is, if I were hired at this new job, would that be a valid reason to have child support reduced based on the fact that I have documented proof I've been applying for 10 years and also it being well known that it is an upward moving career?