In nearly half of Northern Virginia households today, the wife and mother is the primary income earner for the family. According to a recent survey, these high-earning women are entrepreneurs, business professionals and soldiers who are working outside the home and taking control of the family finances. With more women professionals, more men and dads are primary caregivers, staying at home and controlling the household. Because of this shift in responsibility, it cannot be assumed that after divorce the mother will automatically retain custody of the children and be paid child support. According to recent statistics, almost one in six fathers today have full or shared custody of their child, a substantial increase from 1960s.
Singer's father awarded modified child support
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.
Man arrested for owing thousands in child support payments
In Virginia or elsewhere in the U.S., broken relationships or marriages ending in divorce may lead to sudden and unexpected financial difficulties for one or both partners. The situation becomes further complicated and painful when children are involved. A court, keeping the best interests of the child in mind, may order one parent to pay child support to the other. That, however, could remain only on paper if the payments are not actually made. All states now have departments or agencies that provide child support enforcement services.
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