A father who goes through a divorce in California may be awarded full custody of his children. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, fathers accounted for 18.3 percent of custodial parents in 2011. Just like custodial mothers, custodial fathers are often entitled to an award for monthly child support payments from the other parent.
Statistics gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau show that non-custodial mothers are less likely to fulfill their child support obligations than non-custodial fathers. Thirty-two percent of custodial fathers who were awarded child support in 2011 never received any of the payments. During the same year, the same was true for only 25.1 percent of custodial mothers who were awarded child support payments.
Fathers who do receive some child support payments from the other parent typically receive less of what is owed to them on an annual basis. Custodial mothers generally receive 52 percent of the child support that they are owed annually, while custodial fathers are only paid 40 percent of their annual child support award. However, the census data also showed that custodial fathers who don’t receive child support that they are owed are usually in a much better financial position than custodial mothers who are not being paid child support.
A parent who is not receiving the child support that was awarded to them in a divorce agreement may want to talk to an attorney about enforcing the child support order. An attorney may be able to help the parent to pursue legal action against their ex-spouse for nonpayment of child support.
Source: FiveThirtyEight, “Are Moms Less Likely Than Dads To Pay Child Support?,” Mona Chalabi, Feb. 26, 2015