Fathers' Rights, Child Support, Custody

Received this recently:

We have initiated a Women for Shared Parenting project.  A number of prominent women are forming a group to endorse a statement supporting shared parenting.  The project is in the early development stage, with statement drafting just getting underway.   The group is bi-partisan consisting of female legislators, business leaders, journalists, etc, all of whom support shared parenting.  Presently over 50  prominent women have been identified as participants and are in the process of being contacted.  

Ultimately the idea is to have the statement translate into a website where women from around the United States and Canada sign on as endorsers.  We expect the initial group may also post two minute video statements on why they are supporting shared parenting, etc.   We will also pursue Op Ed pieces in influential newspapers.  There will be very little time commitment necessary on your part.  

Following are several women who’ve already responded, requesting their inclusion in the project.  

Barbara Kay – Canadian National Post syndicated columnist  http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/24/post-ebook-no-5-best-of-barbara-kay-vol-i/  

Molly Olson – Minneapolis, MN. Founder – Center for Parental Responsibility (CPR)  http://www.cpr-mn.org/

Dr. Linda Nielsen – Social Scientist, Author, Adolescent and Educational Psychologist, Wake Forest Universityhttp://users.wfu.edu/nielsen/

Kris Titus - Founder, former President – Canadian Equal Parenting Council – national Canadian shared parenting umbrella organization http://canadianepc.org/

Before any statement is publicly released it will be privately circulated to all who indicated a desire to participate for their input.  We anticipate the statement may be tailored as a broad policy statement in order to attract the greatest level of support.

We would be interested in being introduced to  any Prominent Women Leaders who would appreciate hearing about this endeavor.  I can be contacted with the information below. 

Kind Regards,

Terry Brennan

tbrennan211@msn.com

Just received this notice:

My name is Khaaliq Thomas and I’m a professional photographer and custodial dad of 3 (recently divorced).
For the past year I’ve been working on a photo documentary concentrating on single / custodial fathers households.
I’m hoping to get your help in spreading the word about the project.

Purpose of The Project
The project will challenge the belief of fathers being incapable, unwilling, and or inadequate in performing responsibly,
productively and lovingly as a single / custodial parent. I currently have 3 participants and need another 3 to 4 for a
truly diverse look into these unconventional family structures. Attention will be given to the dedicated ability of these
dads and their commitment to raising productive children and supplying a stable home on their own. The finished project
will consist of a 110 page full color photo book. I’m using Kickstarter to raise the funds to search for more dads through
advertising, print and design of the book and setting up exhibitions of the final project.

How You Can Help
I need your help in spreading the word about the Kickstarter fundraiser in order to get the project to the public and
share in the experience of a single father household through this project. I’m asking for your help in support of the project
by spreading the word on your website, (or anyway you can), and allowing me to add you as a supporter on Kickstarter.
I plan on launching the Kickstarter fundraiser early March or whenever I have enough support, whichever comes first.
A link to a video introduction of the project is included.

Thx for your time -

http://vimeo.com/36229020

Fathers are still showing up at legislative hearings to demand more time with their children.  Opponents often argue that increasing time with fathers could lead to less child support being paid, and so argue that fathers shouldn’t get more time.  Unbelievable, isn’t it?

McCOOK, Nebraska — Wednesday’s legislative session at the Capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska, saw extensive testimony focusing on Gov. Dave Heineman’s proposed tax changes, while another topic was nearly as effective at stimulating speakers. According to Sen. Mark Christensen two rooms were also filled with speakers wanting to testify on father’s and grandparent’s rights.

Sen. Christensen told members of the McCook Area Chamber of Commerce that LB 22 and LB 212 saw extensive testimony about splitting parenting time, with opponents worrying the changes would reduce child support obligations in place.

“I was amazed at how many dads came in and said they didn’t care about child support, keep it the same, they just wanted to have more time with their kids,” said Christensen.

McCook Daily Gazette: Local News: Tax proposals, fathers’ rights topic for chamber legislative call (02/07/13).

These types of bills have always foundered when the lawyers and special interest lawyers start weighing in.  Also, courts are loathe to give up any discretion, especially in cases of disputed custody.

 More than a quarter of our kids are being raised by just one parent. Some Heartland fathers feel like they don’t have the parenting rights they deserve. Two Nebraska state lawmakers are trying to change that.

Joe Trader thought he had all the evidence he needed in the custody hearing for his daughter Gracie; but the judge decided otherwise. “I wasn’t going to let a decision that has been given to fathers for years determine what kind of father i was going to be able to be to my child.”

Up before the unicameral this year are two bills focusing on father’s rights.

State Senator Galen Hadley’s bill wants to bring laws made years ago up to today’s times. “I think this bill is looking more at modern society and trying to come up with a parenting plan that tries to deal with the kind of conditions we find in modern divorce.”

Senator Russ Karpisek wants to go one step further; holding judges accountable for the decisions they make.

Trader says both bills show progress. “Any benefit, any increase in time or really any acknowledgment of the equal parenting an how important it is a huge stride,” he said.

Trader’s main goal is for more time with his little girl, Gracie. “Let Nebraska know we’re tired of being just child support, we want to be parents.”

One of the bill would also make it so each parent is entitled to at least 45% of the year spent with their child. That could be over-turned, but a judge would have to cite a reason why.

Father’s Rights Debate Taken Up By The State Legislature.

It never stops.  These are control freaks who simply must have everyone conform to their view of the universe.  When you have to pass laws like this, it just means there is something wrong with the whole approach.  This will just mean more people ostracized from society, and lead to more poverty.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — People who owe back child support will find it harder to avoid having their driver’s licenses suspended if a bill to come before the state Senate passes this session.

The original law adopted in 2009 triggers a driver’s license suspension if a parent is $5,000 in arrears and hasn’t made a payment in 60 days.

The new bill, Senate File 58, lowers the dollar threshold to include a parent who is $2,500 in arrears and hasn’t made a full monthly payment in 90 days. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Wayne Johnson, R-Cheyenne.

via Wyoming Senate bill tightens child support collections.

Actually, it should be noted that a sole custody award with child support ordered in a divorce is the same thing.  The court takes something of great value to a parent, the companionship of his or her own child, and then charges that same parent for it.  It is ludicrous, and immoral, but it is the law of the land in all western countries.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — A juvenile court judge’s decision to order child support from parents whose kids are taken away from them has sparked some debate in the court.

While Ohio law says the issue of child support should be addressed in all cases, some say that it could hamper the ultimate goal of reuniting families and that it is unfair that parents who draw a certain judge are treated differently.

For years, judges in the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court have not routinely ordered support in those cases.

In some cases, judges have tacked a few sentences onto a custody order saying that any current support be redirected to the person or agency responsible for the child.

“But frankly there’s been a period where we weren’t really addressing it,” said Judge Kristin Sweeney, who has been on the bench since 2005.

A clerk brought the issue to Sweeney’s attention and she and others began exploring — and debating — what to do.

She decided, at least in her court, to try to follow the law. Court officials said that while each judge has discretion on interpreting the law, the conversation on the topic is courtwide and at least one other judge is working to find a way to address the support issue.

Assistant County Prosecutor Joe Young said Sweeney’s decision to have her magistrates order support was met with some resistance.

“There is some philosophical opposition to this by the public defender’s office,” Young said.

Juvenile Public Defender Sam Amata said his office is not opposed to child support directives. But, he said, to have them ordered unevenly across the court is unfair, and absent basic guidelines, they could harm the reunification of some children with their parents, leaving them in county care longer — which will be more costly.

“This was kind of treated as an experiment of sorts,” said Brant DiChiera, the assistant public defender who handling the cases in which support has been ordered. “In fairness to [Sweeney], she can’t force other judges to deal with this issue.”

Sweeney said she thinks it is best to broach the issue of support at a later hearing, when a decision on custody is being made.

via Should parents whose children are removed be ordered to pay support? | cleveland.com.

The moral here is to be extremely cautious if there is any possibility of a child support issue arising.

TOPEKA, KAN. – The state of Kansas is trying to force a man who donated sperm to a lesbian couple to pay child support, arguing that the agreement he and the women signed releasing him from all parental duties was invalid because they didn’t go through a doctor.

Under Kansas law, a doctor’s involvement shields a man from being held responsible for a child conceived through artificial insemination. At least 10 other states have similar laws, including California, Illinois and Missouri, according to the Kansas Department for Children and Families.

William Marotta and the couple he helped have a daughter didn’t go through a doctor, so the department is asking a state court to hold him responsible for about $6,000 that the child’s biological mother received through public assistance – as well as future child support.

The department also asked the court to appoint an attorney to represent the now 3-year-old girl, independently of her mother.

Marotta is asking that the case be dismissed, arguing that he is not the child’s legal father. A hearing is set for Tuesday.

Department spokeswoman Angela de Rocha said Wednesday that when a single mother seeks benefits for a child, the department routinely tries to determine the child’s paternity and require the father to make support payments to lessen the potential cost to taxpayers.

She argued that the law regarding artificial insemination is an incentive for donors and prospective mothers to work with a doctor

Kansas wants sperm donor pay child support – KansasCity.com.

What an amazing thing for this woman to do…. just put the poor kid on a plane with his passport and letter saying she didn’t want him anymore!  Now he’s in an orphanage.  Can you imagine how he feels.  Let’s pray that someone comes to his rescue.

An American woman who set off an international furor when she sent a Russian child whom she had adopted back to Moscow, has been ordered to pay $1,000 a month in child support and $150,000 in various fees.

It was in April 2010 that Artyom Saveliev, then 7 years old, arrived in Moscow by plane from Washington, with a note from his adoptive mother, Torry Hansen, saying that she was returning the child she had adopted in 2009 because the boy was unbalanced, violent and that she no longer wanted him. The child arrived with a backpack full of clothes, a Russian passport with a U.S. visa and the mother’s letter canceling the adoption.

The move set off international complaints from Russians, already unhappy with an adoption process that sent children to the United States. Russia is one of the largest sources of foreign adoptions for U.S. families, with about 400 children sent abroad each year.

Russians were also angry at how the boy was treated and abandoned. He now lives in an orphanage in Tomilino, a Moscow suburb. Continue Reading »

30 children with 11 women?  I think I’d take vows in some monastary some place!

Desmond Hatchett of Knoxville, Tenn., has 30 children with 11 women, according to officials and media reports. (WREG / May 18, 2012)

By Rene LynchMay 21, 2012, 1:09 p.m.

Just where is Octodad? That’s perhaps the most pressing question — among the many — pertaining to Desmond Hatchett, a Knoxville, Tenn., man who reportedly has so many children that he’s struggling to keep up with child-support payments.

Hatchett, nicknamed Octodad by various media outlets, gained considerable notoriety last week after WREG in Memphis posted a story and video describing his struggles to keep up with child-support payments for his 30 children.

To say the story went viral would be an understatement. It was republished, reposted, tweeted, shared and commented on thousands and thousands of times. We wrote about it as well on Friday. That story alone was shared more than 26,000 times.

One of the most common questions among readers who have called, e-mailed and commented on the story is this: If Hatchett is having trouble paying child support for these children, who is paying for them? Tennessee taxpayers?

That question adds weight to another question: Just how many children does Hatchett really have?

Hatchett does indeed hold the record for the most children in Knox County, according to Melissa Gibson, an assistant supervisor with the child-support clerk’s office. But she said Friday that she didn’t immediately have the precise number of offspring available.

WREG reported that he has 30 children by 11 different women. The TV station additionally added these details: Nine of those children came about in the last three years — and they range in age from toddler to 14.

Now, back to the “Where is he?” question: A man named Desmond Hatchett from Knoxville, Tenn., has been behind bars at the Morgan County Correctional Complex since November 2009 following an aggravated-assault conviction.

Dorinda Carter, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Correction, confirmed this to the Los Angeles Times on Monday.

The Desmond Hatchett in custody might — or might not — be the same man. (The man behind bars is 32 years old, and local media have said the Octodad Hatchett is 33.)

The math and the kids’ ages could work out if Hatchett was, ahem, especially active just in advance of November 2009. But still, it does suggest that the first question people ask when they hear of his case — “30 kids? Really?” — might also be the most basic question. Continue Reading »

It’s amazing how high some of these child support awards can get.  Who would have ever dreamed that such a scenario as this would be possible.

Singer Melissa Etheridge has settled her nasty two-year child support battle with her ex-girlfriend.

Etheridge and actress Tammy Lynn Michaels ended their seven-year relationship in 2010, and they’ve been locked in a bitter war of words over their 5-year-old twins Johnnie and Miller ever since.

Last month, Michaels launched a legal battle against the Grammy Award winner, seeking a hike in monthly child custody payments, which were previously set at $23,000, but on Monday the former couple finally came to an undisclosed agreement as part of a court-ordered mediation.

According to TMZ.com, the pair will share joint custody of the kids and sources tell the site Michaels’ monthly figure will be substantially higher.

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