Uncle Fester wrote:
If the woman can determine alone to terminate the pregnancy should the man be able to terminate his financing?
Yes. That's the 800-pound gorilla in the room. When a female gets pregnant and would have a very hard time as a single mom, it's all "but why should she have to suffer her whole life? it's so haaaarrrrd not to have sex!" but males are expected to keep it in their pants or be subject to the whime of the female unless they can somehow get custody. It's to the point that men are sometimes charged more in support than their gross income, and getting any increase in pay means a good chance of paying almost all the increase, and possibly even
more as child support.
There have even been instances of adult woment getting pregnant by minors and then suing for child support and being granted it.
People like to pretend its about the child, but there is no accountability set up to make sure the money is spent on the child. It's quite common to hear women say "My ex is getting a raise, that's going to be my money as soon as I can get to court."
Child support needs 5 major reforms:
1) If the female elects to have the child, the male should be notified and a paternity test
required if the parents are not married for child support to be allowed. Once notified, the male should have the one-time opportunity to terminate all financial obligtion and all parental rights with no power to reverse the decision either way later in life by them, the other parent, or the child. If the female wishes to give the child for adoption, the male must have the first opportunity to take the child in which case the mother surrenders
all rights as if another fmily had adopted.
2) Child support, regardless of who is paying, should be limited to the amount necessary for clothing, food and drink, a share of the expenses of shelter based on the number of people in the household with each adult present counting twice as much as the child (and charging each supporting parent only for their children) shoes, and school supplies, plus 10% for unexpected expenses or for discretionary spending
on the child. Costs should be computed based on both parents' locations and the higher cost used, but not to exceed 125% of the lower cost. Housing costs should be computed based on adequate housing for the custodial parent and family members living there, not based on where they actually choose to live.
3) Regardless of need, mandatory support by a noncustodial parent should not exceed the gross income of the custodial parent. If the custodial parent has lost their income through no fault of their own or has none and the supporting parent is not fit to take custod of the children, then the limit should be computed based on the lowest income of the custodial parent since the child's birth.
4) If a male minor impregnates a female adult, he should not be responsible for child support until age 18, or until graduation if he enrolls full-time in college and remains a full-time student continuously. If a female minor is impregnated by a male adult, and the male adult elects to terminate parental rights, the termination should not take effect until the mother is 18, or until she graduates college if she enrolls directly after high school and remains enrolled full time on a continuous basis. If the male parent gets custody of the child he had with a female minor, he should expect no child support until she is either 18 or has graduated college on the same caveats.
5) The receiving parent should be audited at least biannually to ensure child support is being spent on the child's needs.
If married, there should be no "escape clause" from paying child support, but abortions should require the permission of the spouse unless it would endanger life or cause permenant health damage to have the child.