Reply #34: No fixed upper bound. [View All]

There are already enough guidelines in place that states use to determine child support. If anything the lower bound should be raised, from what I have seen. Noncustodial parents owe it to their children, legally, to provide to them as a function of their ability to pay. If they make more they should pay more. Just because it seems like more than *you* would need to raise a child is irrelevant.

This is consistent with how our legal system traditionally distributes "wealth" between parents and children. When it comes to inheritance, for example, we don't have a limit to what you can bequeath to your descendents. Perhaps we should, but that's another argument. Sure there are inheritance taxes, but they only take a bite out of what you can pass on to your children.

Let's face it - this issue of very large child support payments only affects the rich. Rich kids should not be raised on a middle-class budget, if we're going to be consistent with our laws dealing with family money issues. Yes, it's a class system. This is news?

If you want to chip away at the class system, don't start with child support payments.