Bringing up a child is not easy under the best of circumstances. Parental separation makes it harder for both the parents and the child, but the parents are still responsible for making sure that the child's physical needs are met. In Virginia, as in most states, physical custody is often granted to one parent, and the other parent is required to make regular child support payments to ensure that the child's basic needs are met.
In a recent case involving Matthew Knowles, father of singer Beyonce, a court decided that Knowles had exceeded his duties to paying child support to the mother of his 4-year-old son. A judge ordered that Knowles stop paying child support to Alexsandra Wright, the boy's mother, for more than three years.
A battle over support started when Wright took Knowles to court for allegedly failing to pay support. The court originally ordered him to pay $12,000 per month. However, later on, the court determined that he had been paying too much child support to the child's mother, and ordered a decrease in support obligation to $2,500 per month. In addition, Knowles will not have to pay any further child support until sometime in 2017 as a credit for payments already made.
Wright has said she without the payments she had once received, she had to apply for public assistance.
The amount of child support ordered by a court is based on both parents' financial situations. But as situations change, much like here with Mr. Knowles, so can payments if the paying parent can demonstrate actual changes that merit support modification. These typically include sudden job loss, medical conditions or bills. In some circumstances, modifying child support orders can help the "paying" parents meet their child support obligations in a manner that is still in the best interests of the child.
Source: New York Daily News, "Beyoncé's half-brother Nixon and his mother forced into public housing after cut in child support from Matthew Knowles ," Margaret Eby, April 25, 2014
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