Child Support Disbursement by Debit Card
Saturday / September 01, 2007
The use of debit cards for child support has
engendered a lively debate.
Back in June, we linked to the Brownsville (Texas)
Herald's story headlined "Debit card makes receiving child
support payments easier." The Herald
received a number of letters in response to the
story. These letters have been collected at
The Fourteen Percenter. We'll
look at some of the letters in this blog
posting.
But first, we are compelled to observe that The Fourteen Percenter is misnamed. The Fourteen Percenter bills itself as "A publication for parents on the wrong side of the standard possession order. - I see my child two days out of every fourteen; 14%. That’s not enough." In fact, Texas' Standard Possession Order does not restrict the noncustodial parent from seeing the kids to two days out of fourteen. If utilized to its full extent, the Standard Possession Order says that the noncustodial parent will have the children from Thursday after school lets out until 6:00 p.m. Sunday on the first, third and (if there is one) fifth weekend of each month. In addition, holidays are split or alternated, and the noncustodial parent has the children for a month in the summer. Whatever percent that works out to, it's much higher than 14%.
Now to the letters to the editor: Dan Mathis of Sherman suggested, "The AG could push for laws that would allow him to enforce the Dad’s period of possession if his child support is paid up." But the Texas Family Code states that a father has a right to see his child whether or not his child support is current.
Another letter, by "Don," wonders whether the Attorney General's office receives whatever interest accrues on the debit accounts and who gets the service fee when a debit card is used at an ATM. That's a good question, given the amount of child support being paid.
Finally, "Todd" points out that if debit cards are used by custodial parents, then it will be possible to track their purchases. Todd shows his flair as a wordsmith when he says debit cards should be "used to gather data on how much Pedialyte is being bought as opposed to Bud Lite or Marlboro Light."
But first, we are compelled to observe that The Fourteen Percenter is misnamed. The Fourteen Percenter bills itself as "A publication for parents on the wrong side of the standard possession order. - I see my child two days out of every fourteen; 14%. That’s not enough." In fact, Texas' Standard Possession Order does not restrict the noncustodial parent from seeing the kids to two days out of fourteen. If utilized to its full extent, the Standard Possession Order says that the noncustodial parent will have the children from Thursday after school lets out until 6:00 p.m. Sunday on the first, third and (if there is one) fifth weekend of each month. In addition, holidays are split or alternated, and the noncustodial parent has the children for a month in the summer. Whatever percent that works out to, it's much higher than 14%.
Now to the letters to the editor: Dan Mathis of Sherman suggested, "The AG could push for laws that would allow him to enforce the Dad’s period of possession if his child support is paid up." But the Texas Family Code states that a father has a right to see his child whether or not his child support is current.
Another letter, by "Don," wonders whether the Attorney General's office receives whatever interest accrues on the debit accounts and who gets the service fee when a debit card is used at an ATM. That's a good question, given the amount of child support being paid.
Finally, "Todd" points out that if debit cards are used by custodial parents, then it will be possible to track their purchases. Todd shows his flair as a wordsmith when he says debit cards should be "used to gather data on how much Pedialyte is being bought as opposed to Bud Lite or Marlboro Light."
|
