10 signatures reached
To: Ken Ivory House District 39, [email protected]
Reform Utah child support for Equitable co-parenting.
Petition to Reform Utah Child Support Calculations for Equitable Co-Parenting
To:
The Utah State Legislature and the Office of Recovery Services (ORS)
The Purpose
Utah’s current child support guidelines (Utah Code § 78B-12) are outdated and pit parents against one another. By calculating support based on fluctuating post-divorce incomes rather than the actual, fixed cost of raising a child, the system penalizes career growth for both parents, devalues historical caregiving, and fuels ongoing legal battles.
We, the undersigned citizens and parents of Utah—both mothers and fathers, primary caregivers and primary breadwinners alike—petition for immediate legislative reform. We call for a fair, predictable child support framework that supports healthy, cooperative 50/50 co-parenting and allows both parents to financially recover and thrive.
The Core Issues: Why the Current System Fails Both Parents
- It Devalues the Caregiver: The law ignores a stay-at-home parent’s years of 24/7 caregiving contributions prior to divorce, treating domestic labor as having zero financial weight.
- It Punishes Hands-On Parenting: The state routinely imputes high historical incomes to parents, forcing them to choose between working excessive hours to meet artificial support demands or scaling back to part-time work to physically care for their children during 50% custody weeks.
- It Penalizes Professional Growth: Scaling child support upward based on post-divorce promotions turns support into a career penalty. It discourages both parents from increasing their earnings, as any financial success simply triggers a return to court.
The Proposed Reform: Baseline Child Cost of Living Allocation
We propose replacing the current income-driven model with a fixed, predictable cost-of-living standard adjusted strictly by physical parenting time. This ensures both parents have financial predictability and can build their careers without fear of litigation.
A. The Baseline Child Cost of Living
- Base Cost (First Child): Established at a flat $28,000 per year.
- Incremental Cost (Additional Children): Increases by 20% of the base cost ($5,600/year) per additional child.
- Parental Division: The total cost of living is split equally (50/50) between both parents as the starting baseline responsibility.
Example (Two Children):
- Total Annual Cost: $28,000 (First Child) + $5,600 (Second Child) = $33,600
- Per-Parent Responsibility (50/50 Split): $16,800/year ($1,400/month)
B. Custody-Based Adjustments (Disparity Mitigation)
In cases where physical custody is unequal, the parent with less custody time compensates the parent with more custody time based strictly on the percentage deviation from a 50/50 split.
Example (70/30 Custody Split for Two Children):
- Custody Deviation: 70% custody vs. 50% baseline = 20% deviation.
- Annual Adjustment: 20% of the individual parent's responsibility ($16,800) = $3,360/year.
- Monthly Obligation: $280/month paid to the parent with 70% custody.
C. Mutual Safeguards for Both Parents
- The 50/50 Peace Standard: In true 50/50 physical custody arrangements, if both parents independently provide for the children during their respective weeks and either parent's independent income meets or exceeds the pre-divorce baseline, zero child support is awarded. Neither parent owes the other, ending financial dependency.
- No Career Penalties: Support is capped at the pre-divorce baseline. It does not fluctuate or increase with post-divorce promotions, allowing both parents to keep the fruits of their hard work.
Why This Reform is Mutually Beneficial
- A Win-Win for Co-Parenting: Removing income scaling eliminates the primary financial incentive for hostile custody battles. Parents no longer have to fight over custody percentages to gain a financial advantage or avoid financial ruin.
- Valuing Past and Present Contributions: It legally honors the historic caregiver’s non-monetary contributions while protecting the historic breadwinner from endless, crushing financial recalculations.
- Lifting the Mental Health Burden: Chronic litigation and financial instability tear families apart and fuel severe mental health crises, including elevated suicide rates among divorced parents. Clear, fixed guidelines restore peace of mind.
- Puts Children First: Refocuses child support strictly on meeting a child's actual, real-world needs consistently across both households, rather than redistributing parental wealth.
Sign the Petition
By signing below, you request that the Utah Legislature amend Utah Code § 78B-12 to reflect these shared principles of equity, self-sufficiency, and parental dignity for both mothers and fathers.
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Why is this important?
Reform Utah child support for Equitable co-parenting.