Lawmakers Vote on New Child Support Bill
A Maryland bill to revise the state’s twenty year old Child Support Guidelines has passed in the Senate by a vote of 43-2, and is up for a vote today in the House Legislative Subcommittee. A similar bill died in committee last year.
The new guidelines would go up to a combined gross income of $30,000 a month instead of the current level of $10,000 a month. They would also increase child support payments from the non-custodial parent.
Some lawmakers are asking, however, whether it is a good time to increase child support payments in the middle of a recession. Since Maryland uses a shared income model, proponents note that the custodial parent is already paying increased costs and the new guidelines would only cause them to be shared more fairly. The new guidelines would apply to new cases and cases where parents ask the court for a modification.
Tags: child support guidelines, Maryland legislation, shared income model
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December 27th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
I was disappointed to learn about the increase of the percentage of child support that was enacted by recent legislation.
The argument that times are more expensive that non-custodial parents ought to pay higher percentages does not make sense in the grand scheme. Regularly raises and inflation should offset one another so that any income differential ought to be minimal if not nil.
Presently, over a third of my income is goes to child support because of a spouse who until recently had refused to work. She stayed out of work until after the settlement was complete. Now I can hardly afford to live, she makes as much money has I do, gets state subsidies for continuing education, and then receives child support payments.
This increase adds insult AND injury. If salaries have increased as shown on the DHHR website, and expenses have increased as shown, the households ought to be on par without a modification. The only reason for this type of an increase is to cover for the mismanagement of funds by the custodial parent.
How does the state justify these expenses? In addition, how do they establish such a blanket increase where there are those of us whose children were take across state lines to less expensive areas? This legislation most negatively effects the middle income workers that are already struggling to make ends meet.
Do I have a correct understanding of this legislation and its effects? Or am I missing something. Just because a parent didn’t win primary custody is no reason to punish them more and to treat them in such as way as to make them pay for the short comings of others.
September 18th, 2011 at 11:28 am
How many men seek child support and Spousal Maintance compared to Women seeking the same?
September 19th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Dave o: More women than men, but a clearer way to look at it is the economically dependent party in the relationship is usually the one seeking child support and spousal support.