should there be a cap on how much child support one can receive ?

Question

obviously the cap would be higher or lower in places with higher/lower costs of living , but i was talking bout child support with one of my male friends and he was telling me that his uncle is a state senator and he has to pay about $13,000 a month in child support to his ex wife , and we both agreed that that’s kind of steep . so , the question is if someone is a billionaire , should 40% of their income a month still go to child support ?

Accepted Answer

My understanding of child support is it's intended to equalize the standard of living for the child so they don't go to a mansion with the billionaire for a few days out of the week and a tiny apartment in a bad neighborhood the rest of the week.

Answer

It already is “capped” by how much they make so.

Answer

It's around the standard of living they are accustomed to.
Shit happens but you have to pay for it

Answer

For me personally, having a husband that pays child support, I think this should be determined on a case by case basis, one flat formula applied to everyone just doesn’t seem fair when there are too many variables in each relationship. At one end of the spectrum how can you possibly justify that $13k isn’t excessive to SUPPORT a child, on the other hand, how long were the parents together? Did Dad always earn that much or has he worked hard since their relationship to better himself? Do they both work or was Mum a stay at home Mum? What was mums career before she had children? What is mutually agreed that she would stop working? What has the agreement been on schooling and extra curricular activities? Cos if they go to private school well then 13k doesn’t seem so far fetched. Does she have a new partner or other children from a different relationship? I could go on, but my point is the answer to these question changes the perspective on what child support should be paid. I do believe a father has a responsibility to provide SUPPORT for their child, my problem is that some women see it as THEIR income and don’t use that money towards their child and they don’t financially contribute to their child at all when it really is always meant to be a JOINT effort and that shouldn’t change just because the relationship ended.

Answer

For what reason?

Answer

No there shouldn't be a cap, I think it should be income based.
As a senator he can afford that, and it's to keep the child's standard of living the same. 
A kid can be accustomed to living a certain life style, a change in that, plus the possible "trauma" from the divorce can impact the kids life negatively. So to lessen the blow the courts feel it's better to try to keep the child's life as "normal" as possible. (Normal meaning what they're used to)

Answer

So has anyone seen mothers pay child support before? If you have I'm shocked. If you want to know why they don't, it's because men usually can't take full custody unless circumstances are extreme. Because a man could abuse the child. And they want to prevent child abuse. When where I live at least, the mothers actually abuse more than the fathers. How can we cut dads out of the lives of their kids just because someone made a nasty generalisation?! It's bullshit.

Answer

40% is high as hell. But to be honest I have no clue because no child is that expensive.
But I guess the courts know something we don’t lol

Answer

Child support should be based on the number of biological children, each biological parent has. The calculation should be based only on each biological parents income. If a parent has no income they should calculate minimum wage x 40 hours.  Child support should be calculated by the number of parenting days each parent has the child. Medical, childcare, extracurriculars and educational costs should be agreed upon, and paid 50/50 by each parent.

Answer

I always thought it was at least partially based on the income of the parent... in a married two parent household when more income comes in the parents usually save it or use it to better the household or family.. if a parent pays child support and makes $50k/year, and another parent pays child support and makes $100k/year I would expect the $100k earner to contribute more to their child support because they can

should there be a cap on how much child support one can receive ?

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