Newspaper Articles 1999
The Howard Government is trying to make life easier for non-custodial
fathers. But the Family court seems to be working in the opposite
direction.
Sydney Morning Herald, Bettina Arndt, Saturday 16th January, 1999
If you are male, working long hours to support the family but facing a shaky
marriage, watch out. In the event of a marriage breakdown, you would find
that dedication to work would leave you thoroughly the loser in divorce
negotiations.
For a start, your busy working life would mean you would be likely to miss
out in battles over custody (residence) of children and be hard pressed to
gain significant access (contact). And then, under the rules of the Child
Support Scheme which determines how much financial support divorced men are
required to pay for their children, you'd be locked into continuing to work
to your maximum capacity, even if that meant you saw less of your children.
In a recent case decided by the full bench of the Family Court, a divorced
management consultant with five children had cut back his average 60-70 working
hours per week to care for two children then living with him, halving his
$200,000 income. His wife had received 80 per cent of the $500,000 property
settlement.
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