Imagine the State Dept of Child Support Services trying to collect aid payments from ONE PAYOR to reimburse themselves for aid to 23 children (with 5 different moms).
Big deal. That already happens with monogamous ultra-Orthodox sects in NY. The fathers don’t work either, and child support only comes into play in case of divorce. So there you have it.
That’s not a polygamy issue. That’s a cult issue.[/quote]
In CA, child support comes into play when paternity is legally established, admitted or not disputed. Marriage and divorce have nothing to do with it. The DCSS collects support for children and pays the payee parent monthly after a few days lag time. If the “custodial” parent applies for TANF for their children, they must first name the other parent of each child on the application and list their contact information and SSN and employer (if they know).
DCSS then seeks reimbursement from the “non-custodial” parent of any aid paid on behalf of their minor children. If the “custodial” parent has not filed in the court for paternity (in the case of unmarried applicants) and/or child support (in all cases), DCSS’ own counsel will do it for them for free. After obtaining the order of support, the agency (under color of law) is permitted to have any CS payments made redirected from the payor’s employer to themselves to first reimburse themselves for any aid paid to the “custodial” parent from the date of the CS order forward. They also periodically go back to court for aid recipients with an upward modification request for CS, especially if the payor is gainfully employed and in arrears with CS aid-reimbursement payments. If there is any money left each month after the DCSS reimburses themselves for aid, that money is returned to the aid recipient IF the payor is not in arrears to the agency for past aid paid to the custodial parent.
DCSS has a fleet of counsel in every county in the state who do nothing but file for paternity/CS orders, obtain CS orders from the court and stipulate with CS payors 40 hours per week.
If the non-custodial parent and/or greater-earning spouse is married and sued for child support in a divorce action and *he* believes one (or more) of the children he was sued to support aren’t his, he has the right to bring a paternity action to determine whether he is the father … or not. The reason being that it is “assumed” in CA that the husband is the father of all children born in wedlock.
As svelte noted here, it could get awfully confusing trying to investigate which kids belong to which “families” (if the polygamist lifestyle was legal in CA, for example).
Yes, spd, I do believe the fringe “ousted `Mormon'” polygamist “lifestyle” IS a cult, as well as the “cults” you are speaking of in NYC (although I doubt your cults have as many kids in each “family” as the ones in UT) but as long as the local laws in those states allow it, they will carry on and continue to bribe their local gubment officials and contribute to their communities to stay in good standing with those officials.
This type of lifestyle would never fly in expensive US cities. It would fall apart inside of 60 days unless the patriarch was worth millions AND “inherited” a local “compound” (of sorts).
