Joint physical custody has many advantages
First, the methods used to arrive at the current child-support tables were derived from a confusing mishmash of economic methods that are nearly impossible to understand. Utah uses the "cost shares" method of imputing the support tables based on a mix of fixed and marginal costs of supporting a child within an intact family, not a divorced family. The current methods ignore post-divorce economic reality. That is, after divorce, both parents must maintain housing, transportation and utilities. Eighty percent of divorced mothers work, and many are remarried. Why should fathers subsidize their former spouse's fixed costs? Fathers must also reestablish a household. Child support should reflect the increased marginal costs for food, clothing and medicine borne by the custodial parent, not housing and transportation. And the existing tables already are indexed for inflation — as the parents' combined income goes up, so does the child support. If anything figures in, the child-support tables should go down, way down.
Third, the current child-support enforcement system is heavy-handed and unforgiving. So what happens if a noncustodial parent loses his job or goes bankrupt? Child support stops temporarily, right? Wrong. Child support continues to accrue unless the obligor files a "Petition to Modify" child support with the court. Unemployed persons are concerned about their immediate needs like food and shelter. Most can't afford hiring a lawyer. In practice, very few individuals can maintain employment without any interruptions for the up to 18-year duration of a support order. Can't a sympathetic judge or commissioner just discharge the debt accrued during periods of unemployment? No, child-support debts cannot be discharged, even in bankruptcy. The state Office of Recovery Services often steps in to collect the debt.
Finally, the current system of custody (i.e. ownership) and child support pits parent-time (formerly known as "visitation") against money. That is, mothers often oppose increased overnights spent with Dad, because it may create a situation of joint physical custody, which decreases their child support. The children suffer, as many noncustodial parents understand all too well. There are more than 12,000 divorces per year in Utah and about half of them involve children. According to recent sociological research, 60 percent to 70 percent of divorces are sought by mothers, not fathers. Custody of the children means receiving child support and probably retention of the marital home. This situation is a huge incentive for divorce. If the Legislature is truly interested in decreasing the number of divorces — benefiting the state's children — they will alter this expectation by directing judges and commissioners to order joint physical custody whenever possible. More joint physical custody orders would maintain some semblance of the marital division of child rearing that has become the modern American family and, especially, the modern LDS family.
And, believe it or not, child-support collections actually go up when joint custody is ordered. The best solution to decrease tension and increase child-support payments, no doubt, would be to overhaul the whole system and allow joint physical custody whenever possible. Noncustodial parents should discuss these issues with their state legislators before the upcoming session.
John D. Kriesel, M.D., has been an advocate for noncustodial parents at the state Legislature.
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