Dad bought 2009 Lexus and owes over $20,000 in child support
Our divorce decree was entered in Maryland in 2000, then entered as a foreign order in Illinois in May, 2002. Child support was set at $356/month.
He lives in Illinois and is the modern definition of a "deadbeat dad". I live in Pennsylvania and have been fighting for child support through my local Domestic Relations office and the Will County Assistant District Attorney's office for more than five years.
This father is now more than $20,000 in arrears. He just purchased a brand new 2009 Lexus (after trading in his Mercedes) and lives in a $250,000 home. At the time we were divorced I was making twice what I am now, and he was making half of what he makes now. In addition to this, we used to share the children 50/50 because we lived very close to each other, but now I raise them full-time in a small rental house ($500/month) in rural Pennsylvania.
The state of Illinois is making him pay off the arrears at a rate of $30 per month. My daughter will be 34 years old when the arrears are finally caught up.
Two days ago, this same man arrived at my house with a police officer, and threatened to have me arrested if I did not allow my children to leave the state of Pennsylvania and travel with him to Illinois for the Christmas vacation. He held an illegible, hand-written court order saying I was in contempt of court for not driving to Buffalo, NY and placing my minor children, alone, on a commercial airplane to Chicago. The order also forces my children to miss a week of public school.
This is the state of child support and visitation rights for mothers (and fathers) in this country who don't have the money to "play" the system. This deadbeat dad represents a new breed of fatherhood in this country that is morally and ethically bankrupt, but seems to have plenty of money for everything else.
