In his latest Huffington Post column, Cordell & Cordell Principal Partner Joe Cordell critiqued the child support system for the manner in which it frequently tears families apart.
Ideally, child support should ensure all financial necessities needed to raise a child are covered, with both parents providing fair contributions.
However, far too often the system is counterproductive and drives a wedge between families.
Mr. Cordell detailed how the system creates a system of debtors prisons that is unfair to low-income fathers and fails to acknowledge the economic realities of divorce.
He also noted that the system overemphasizes financial contributions while devaluing other types of support.
“While monetary contributions are necessary, there are other important ways parents can contribute to a child’s upbringing that the system fails to take into account,” Mr. Cordell said.
Although numerous problems exist with the current framework, there is a modicum of hope in recent proposals that seek to establish a more rehabilitative, rather than punitive, system.
“Hopefully this is, at the very least, the start of a long overdue conversation that will lead to meaningful reform,” Mr. Cordell said.
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Written by Joseph E. Cordell
Joseph E. Cordell is the Principal Partner at Cordell and Cordell, P.C., which he founded in 1990 with his wife, Yvonne. Over the past 25 years, the firm has grown to include more than 100 offices in 30 states, as well as internationally in the United Kingdom. Mr. Cordell is licensed to practice in the states of Illinois and Missouri and received his LL.M. from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Joseph E. Cordell was named one of the Top 10 Best Family Law Attorneys for Client Satisfaction in Missouri.
