FATHER OF 27 CHILDREN HAVING TROUBLE PAYING CHILD SUPPORT

Could you handle raising and supporting 27 of your own biological children? A man from a neighboring state thinks that he’s handling it, although there’s a recent report indicating his arrest for child support related charges. In Michigan and other states, a prolonged, bad faith violation of one’s child support obligation could ultimately result in some jail time.

The 39-year-old father of 27 children, who sired the kids with the help of 16 different women, was picked up for child support issues and held for a weekend in jail. He’s supposed to pay child support for 21 of those kids pursuant to child support orders, according to news reports. He’s a poet and performer in his locality, and when arrested he had just finished an appearance on “Divorce Court” with his 23-year-old wife.

His wife accused him on the show, unsurprisingly, of adultery and preying on younger women. He says he’s in touch with all of his kids “except five” and has custody of two of them. His current income, if any, is unknown, but he says that he was doing okay until losing his barbershop and barber’s license years ago. He says he pays his child support obligation timely, but admits to problems in recent years.

He says he has arrears but pays every week. He says he’s not an “absent” father, and was surprised to see that the television audience was highly critical of his lifestyle. According to U.S. Census Bureau reports, the average child support order was $445 per month in 2009. If this father paid that average amount for each of the 21 children, he would need roughly almost $9,000 per month, which is unlikely here barring an unusual change in circumstances.

In Michigan and elsewhere, child support is determined primarily by the income of the noncustodial parent, but the custodial parent’s circumstances are relevant. There are standardized child support guidelines that attempt to obtain uniformity, but each case is ultimately a unique set of circumstances with different variables. When there are several children, the amount paid to each must be factored in to the calculations. And, based on the wife’s claims of his philandering, this father’s child-production days may not yet be completed.

Source: Huff Post Divorce, Father Of 27 Arrested For Child Support Issue, Then Released, No author, Sept. 16, 2013