From Ned Holstein, MD, MS, Executive Director of Fathers & Families:

The new Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines went into effect January 1. They are causing substantial increases in child support in almost all cases. Many payors will see increases of “only” 20%, but some will see a tripling of their child support order, even when they are poor and the recipient is wealthy. In high income cases, the child support order for one child could exceed $50,000 per year.

We are bringing a lawsuit in state court to stop the new Guidelines. We need your financial gifts to sustain our legal expenses. When we went to federal court on January 5, there was an outpouring of gifts, and we need you to rise to the occasion again by clicking here.

How much money is legitimately needed to support a child? Far less than the Guidelines require, in many cases. If a recipient and payor earn the same amount, when all factors are taken into consideration, the recipient will enjoy a standard of living almost double that of the payor. This holds true throughout the broad range of middle class incomes.

For details, see the Minority Report I wrote about the new Guidelines. Instead of the child-friendly “two-condo solution,” the new Guidelines produce a “castle and shack” outcome.

Fathers & Families believes the new Child Support Guidelines violate the Massachusetts constitution in several ways.

They violate both the due process and equal protection rights of payors of child support. Also, the Guidelines violate Article 30 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights by having a secret committee prepare them, and a single judge declare them to be law. In contrast, Article 30 requires legislative approval of the Guidelines.

We argued these points before Judge D.P. Woodlock in federal court on January 5. We had a great turnout—almost 50 of our supporters took time off from work to attend the hearing. Judge Woodlock decided that the case belonged in state court, not in federal court. He did not rule on the merits of our case.

We had good reasons for going to federal court, but we did not win, so now we are going to state court. To do so, we again need your help and support by making as large a tax-deductible gift as you possibly can by clicking here.

Together with you in the love of our children,

Ned Holstein, M.D., M.S.
Executive Director

Some background info. from MSNBC's Judge denies challenge to child support rules  (1/5/09):

BOSTON - A federal judge on Monday rejected a bid to stop state family court judges from using new child support guidelines that a fathers' rights group claims are unfair.

Fathers and Families Inc., a Boston-based group that pushes for reform of child custody and support policies, last month sued the state's chief administrative Judge Robert Mulligan and state trial court judges over the new guidelines -- which the group claims are burdensome to fathers and do not take into account the costs of raising children.

Judge Douglas Woodlock denied the group's request for an injunction to stop the new guidelines from being used, saying it would be inappropriate for the federal courts to get involved in a battle over state guidelines.

Ned Holstein, the executive director of Fathers and Families, said the group will likely refile the lawsuit in state court.

In its complaint, the group said the new guidelines call for support payments to be calculated based primarily on income, not the expenses incurred by the parents to raise the child. The group said the new guidelines also fail to take into account factors affecting income such as tax status, marital status, employment status and obligations to support other children...

In a statement issued Monday, Mulligan said the new guidelines were based on a review by a task force that analyzed data and "thoughtfully considered diverse perspectives.""I am very confident, based on my review and their recommendations, that the changes are in the best interests of children across the state," Mulligan said.

Mulligan said the new guidelines include provisions that consider the increase in health insurance costs and the requirement of mandatory health insurance in Massachusetts and provide greater guidance to judges for when a child support order should be modified.

But Holstein, who was a member of the task force, said the revised guidelines will increase the financial burden on many divorced fathers who are already struggling to make support payments.

"Somewhere there has to be relief for people who are going to be driven into poverty by the actions of a single judge who is unelected and not accountable to the public," Holstein said.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 at 12:53 pm and is filed under Child Support/Child Support Enforcement, Fathers & Families Advocacy Group. You can trackback from your own site.