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The television station shows three
general laborers, three construction laborers, a landscaper, a salesman and two
tradesmen, most of them Latino men with dour expressions on their faces. Are
they the featured men in a report about hard times for blue-collar workers in
the state of Texas? The hopefuls for a local job training program? No—they are
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s “Top 10 Most Wanted Child Support Evaders.”
The 10 men collectively owe nearly
$700,000 in back child support. Not one appears to have an education, and the
big wage earner in the group is a plumber. Abbott says he “singled out” these
men because they “have the ability” to pay their child support but “refuse to do
so.” One wonders what the financial condition of those not “singled out” is.
For the past month Abbott has been publicizing
lists with the men’s photos and biographical information. The lists have been
published or reported on in dozens of Texas media outlets.
Abbott recently proclaimed the
list a success, after he arrested the landscaper--who owed $109,747--the
salesman, and one of the construction laborers. The two highest-ranked evaders
still on the lam are the welder, who owes $130,796, and one of the general
laborers, who owes $94,107. Few, if any, are asking the obvious question—how did
men of such humble means end up owing so much money?
While none on Abbott’s list would
or should qualify for Father of the Year, the arrearages are likely created in
large part because the child support system is mulishly impervious to the
economic realities working people face, such as layoffs, wage cuts,
unemployment, and work-related injuries. According to the Urban Institute, less
than one in 20 non-custodial parents who suffers a substantial drop in income is
able to get courts to reduce his or her child support payments.
Abbott’s office backhandedly
acknowledges the difficulties men in these situations face, advising obligors
“it is best to get a lawyer, if you can afford one, to handle your attempt to
change the amount of child support you owe.” Yet how many unemployed blue-collar
workers can afford to hire an attorney at $200 an hour or more to represent them
in a child support case?
By federal law, child support
orders cannot be retroactively modified, no matter how mistaken, misguided or
ridiculous. Even men who fell behind on their child support because they had
heart attacks, broken legs or cancer cannot have their arrearages eliminated.
And much of the arrearages owed by Abbott’s “Top 10” accrued before 2002, when
Texas charged obligors 12% interest, one of the highest interest rates in the
country.
Also, under Texas law, an obligor who owes only three months of past-due child
support can have his driver’s license or other professional licenses suspended,
interfering with his ability make a living.
To be fair,
Abbott’s “Top 10” list is not unusual. Federal Office of Child Support
Enforcement data shows that two-thirds of those behind on child support
nationwide earned poverty-level wages; less than four percent of the national
child support debt is owed by those earning $40,000 or more a year.
In the past 18 months, “deadbeat parents” have been the targets of similar,
highly-publicized law enforcement actions in Virginia, Kentucky, and Arizona.
Virginia’s “Most Wanted” list was topped by a laborer, a carnival hired hand,
and a construction worker, who collectively somehow owed over a quarter million
dollars in child support. Kentucky’s list sported only one obligor with an
education, and the most common designation for occupation was "laborer." Near
the top of Arizona’s list was a maintenance man who owed $90,223, an unemployed
man of no known occupation who owed $54,298, and, best of all, a roofer who owed
$240,581.
While Abbott’s list no doubt
contains a few bad actors, the larger problem lies not with non-custodial
parents, but instead with the child support system. Arresting low-income parents
is neither fair nor useful. What’s needed instead is an overhaul of the system,
so that blue-collar workers aren't turned into criminals because they’ve failed
to pay obligations which are beyond their reach.
This column first appeared in the Houston Chronicle
(1/7/07).
Jeffery
M. Leving is one of America's most prominent family law attorneys. He is the
author of the new HarperCollins book
Divorce Wars: A Field Guide to the Winning Tactics, Preemptive Strikes, and Top
Maneuvers When Divorce Gets Ugly. His website is
www.dadsrights.com.
Glenn
Sacks' columns on men's and fathers' issues have appeared in dozens of America's
largest newspapers. Glenn can be reached via his website at
www.GlennSacks.com or
via email at Glenn@GlennSacks.com.
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