Law Takes It Out on the Good Dads
by Zane Chalfant
Eleven years ago my son's wife left him and their one year old daughter to run off with another man. My son courageously accepted 100% of the care of his daughter and about $25,000 of joint debt. She walked away with no responsibility other than the two credit cards she had in her name. In the divorce decree, he got full custody of their daughter and having just left the military, the responsibility of looking for a new job. Fast-forwarding eleven years to the present, my son has remarried and has a daughter with his second wife. Together they have provided a loving family, though modest life style, for their two daughters. In spite of securing a good paying job, he and his new wife, who also had to work full time, have just recently got free of all the past debt and have been approved to purchase their first home. As for his ex-wife, she relocated to Austin, TX; she is now married to a wealthy real estate broker. In compliance with the divorce decree, she receives every other weekend visitation and summers with their daughter. They possess a boat on the lake, a house on the golf course, and expensive cars. With their financial status, they have the resources to provide my granddaughter with a lavish life style and with her soon to become 12-years of age, she is contemplating spending the rest of her time with her mother in Austin. I'm not upset with the fact that my granddaughter may spend the rest of her life with her mom, though I'll miss spending time with her, I hate the way the child support system works. Since their divorce, his ex has never paid one penny of child support and my son, to his fault, let her off the hook for whatever reason. Now that his daughter may life with her mom, he is subject to pay child support. I know that she will not be as kind as he and will want all the child support she can get. It seems un-fair that he has worked so hard and has reached a point in his life where he can now afford a better life for his family, but will suffer a serious financial set back if and when he has to pay child support to an ex-wife who already has all the financial backing she needs in life. Is there anything that can be done?
|
