Hummmm?
I am a member of the 'OhioClassAction' yahoo group and I thought I'd report something here that I've talked about there, and mix a few statistics in with it.
This isn't directly about child custody, but it touches on matters that go along with it.I wrote a letter to my Senator in Ohio (Sen. Schuler).
It was 8 pages long and nicely summarized the situation here in Ohio concerning alimony and the way this state is collecting a 2% tax on every dollar collected in alimony and child support.
Also, I pointed out that now, alimony (aka spousal support) is collected by the Child Support Enforcement Agency JUST LIKE it was child support.
It is even garnished from wages just like child support. Now, I assume you all are aware of the Federal Child Support Collection Incentive program? This is basically a contest between the 50 states on who can rake in the most money.
The Feds set aside 500 million dollars a year for the 'pot', and this pot is split by the states with the biggest slices going to the top 10 or so states - sort of like 'Grand Prize', 'First Prize', 'Second Prize', so on and so forth.
Well, last year, Ohio came in 3rd in this contest and their slice of the pie was right at 40 million dollars! I told my Senator was one of the parameters was on the 'scoring'. It was 'what is your state's proportion of child support orders relative to the total number of divorces in your state'? I asked the Senator to think about that for a minute.
Does that question not mean that even when the children or split 50-50 between the parents, that it is the monetary best interest of the state to make somebody pay somebody? Sure is!Then, I informed the Senator about a computer program called the 'Fin Plan' that is being used across this state every day by magistrates to automatically calculate child support, property settlements, AND alimony payments.
I asked the Senator who wrote this program, who sanctioned it, and who approved its usage? Our Senator NEVER heard of it.So he contacted the Ohio Bar Association to find out about it. Guess what, they never answered him after 3 months!
So, now, I believe I have his curiosity up, and he has sent an official request to the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court and asked about this computer program. That was about a month ago, and to my knowledge, he hasn't heard anything from them as yet.By the way, Ohio collected 1.9 BILLION dollars in child support last year.
I also asked the senator is it might be just possible is this total INCLUDED (illegally) alimony so that Ohio could rank higher in the Federal Contest. He hasn't answered that yet either. At any rate, this figure was for 1.2 million children.I also sent him copies of the law from Indiana and Kentucky (both neighboring states), showing that both have effectively done away with 'alimony'.
Both of these states have what is called 'spousal maintenance'. This only comes into play when there is a handicapped or special needs child involved that precludes one of the parents from being able to work full time.
AND, Indiana only charges a flat $2 processing fee on payments irregardless of the size of the payment.Anyway, I am anxious to see what the Ohio Supreme Court says in their response about the 'Fin Plan' computer program.
Also, I learned that in Ohio, no legislation gets out of committee without the approval of the Ohio Judicial Conference (aka JUDGES). So who is in control of our legislature??? Hmmmm????Thanks, Steve
This isn't directly about child custody, but it touches on matters that go along with it.I wrote a letter to my Senator in Ohio (Sen. Schuler).
It was 8 pages long and nicely summarized the situation here in Ohio concerning alimony and the way this state is collecting a 2% tax on every dollar collected in alimony and child support.
Also, I pointed out that now, alimony (aka spousal support) is collected by the Child Support Enforcement Agency JUST LIKE it was child support.
It is even garnished from wages just like child support. Now, I assume you all are aware of the Federal Child Support Collection Incentive program? This is basically a contest between the 50 states on who can rake in the most money.
The Feds set aside 500 million dollars a year for the 'pot', and this pot is split by the states with the biggest slices going to the top 10 or so states - sort of like 'Grand Prize', 'First Prize', 'Second Prize', so on and so forth.
Well, last year, Ohio came in 3rd in this contest and their slice of the pie was right at 40 million dollars! I told my Senator was one of the parameters was on the 'scoring'. It was 'what is your state's proportion of child support orders relative to the total number of divorces in your state'? I asked the Senator to think about that for a minute.
Does that question not mean that even when the children or split 50-50 between the parents, that it is the monetary best interest of the state to make somebody pay somebody? Sure is!Then, I informed the Senator about a computer program called the 'Fin Plan' that is being used across this state every day by magistrates to automatically calculate child support, property settlements, AND alimony payments.
I asked the Senator who wrote this program, who sanctioned it, and who approved its usage? Our Senator NEVER heard of it.So he contacted the Ohio Bar Association to find out about it. Guess what, they never answered him after 3 months!
So, now, I believe I have his curiosity up, and he has sent an official request to the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court and asked about this computer program. That was about a month ago, and to my knowledge, he hasn't heard anything from them as yet.By the way, Ohio collected 1.9 BILLION dollars in child support last year.
I also asked the senator is it might be just possible is this total INCLUDED (illegally) alimony so that Ohio could rank higher in the Federal Contest. He hasn't answered that yet either. At any rate, this figure was for 1.2 million children.I also sent him copies of the law from Indiana and Kentucky (both neighboring states), showing that both have effectively done away with 'alimony'.
Both of these states have what is called 'spousal maintenance'. This only comes into play when there is a handicapped or special needs child involved that precludes one of the parents from being able to work full time.
AND, Indiana only charges a flat $2 processing fee on payments irregardless of the size of the payment.Anyway, I am anxious to see what the Ohio Supreme Court says in their response about the 'Fin Plan' computer program.
Also, I learned that in Ohio, no legislation gets out of committee without the approval of the Ohio Judicial Conference (aka JUDGES). So who is in control of our legislature??? Hmmmm????Thanks, Steve
posted by Richar' Farr at 10:19 PM
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