DESPERATE divorced dads are secretly paying former partners to buy time with their children. A Geelong father gave his ex-wife $10,000 to ensure she signed a court order giving him five days a fortnight with their child.

Dad's love costs

Other frustrated dads are paying between $40 to $80 a fortnight in exchange for the honouring of court-ordered contact visits.

The money these dads pay is on top of compulsory child support payments.

Family Court Chief Justice Alastair Nicholson described this "cash for kids" as appalling when told of it by the Herald Sun. "One party should not have to pay the other to make children available," he said.

INSIGHT also learned:

ONE desperate dad spent more than $146,000 in the courts to win shared care of his children.

A MELBOURNE mum has been hauled into court more than 100 times by a vindictive ex-partner.

MORE than $200,000 - most of a warring couple's life savings - was frittered away on legal fees in a long fight over their children.

AT least 86 Australian children locked in custody fights have been killed by parents during the past 10 years.

COMPLAINTS against the Child Support Agency rose by 21 per cent during the past 12 months.

ANGRY ex-spouses kill 16 women a year, on average, after relationship or marriage breakdowns in Australia.

MOTHERS and fathers have abducted 177 children in the past year and taken them overseas without the consent of their former partners.

PARENTS, primarily dads, are cheating their children out of more than $1.6 million a week in child support.

THE worst debtors owe their children more than $200,000.

TWENTY-NINE parents have been stopped at airports and prevented from leaving Australia in the past two years because of child support debts.

INTERVENTION orders that name a couple's child are being used as weapons to fight shared-care claims.

The INSIGHT investigation comes weeks before a Federal Government child custody inquiry is due to report its findings.

Prime Minister John Howard ordered the inquiry and asked it to consider the merits of changing family law so courts would begin with the assumption of equally shared custody whenever there is a dispute.

It has received more than 1700 submissions and is due to report on December 31.

The Geelong father, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, told the parliamentary inquiry he paid for access to his daughter.

"It was very quick, because I was able to pay for more time," he told the inquiry in August.

"It is sort of terrible in a way, but I will reap the benefits for the next 13 years."

A spokesman for men's group the Australian Family Support Services Association, Geoff Brayshaw, said some dads paid for access because court orders were impossible to enforce.

"Most men can't afford to pay, but wouldn't you if it was the only way to see your kids?" he said.

"Men with orders can go back and back to court. They rarely punish no-contact mums."

Justice Nicholson said it was not uncommon for parents to play property matters against children's issues.

"You hear someone has said, `You can have the children for longer, provided you take less money'," he said.

"The issues of children and property should be separate."

Justice Nicholson said jailing parents or imposing fines for breaching contact orders could be horrific for children.

Despite that, he said he had considered jailing a woman for her persistent breaches.

"I was of the view that she had behaved so badly she should be put in prison, but it was really up to him whether he wanted it," Justice Nicholson said.

"I asked the father, `Do you want me to put her in jail?', and he said no. You do reach a point where there is a very limited option of what you can do."

Justice Nicholson recommended an agency be set up to prosecute serial breaches.

"It's something we first suggested 12 years ago," he said.

Adolescent psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said up-front payments for access to children were unethical.

"It's reducing these kids to commodities for sale," he said.

"This would send wrong messages to kids who knew they were traded. It's putting a dollar value on their heads."

Sole Parents' Union president Kathleen Swinbourne said parents sometimes withheld contact because children were genuinely sick or afraid.

"People need to be flexible," she said. "What do you do if a child is too sick to get out of bed?

"If there's a history of domestic violence, there may be real fears for a child's safety."

Non-resident parents also complain they are paying total flight and travel costs for visiting children after the other parent moves away.

In most cases, courts order the costs be halved.

A Burwood man said he paid $60 a week in fuel costs to pick up and drop off his children after his ex-wife moved 200km away.

"The court ordered we halve the costs and the trips, but what can you do?" he said. "I pay up or I don't see the kids."

A Cairns man is also meeting the full cost of flights for his Melbourne-based son, as his ex-wife defies court orders to pay for half the expenses.

Geelong Legal Service solicitor Elsie Stokie said taking action over breaches of orders could cost $3000 in legal fees, with no guarantee of success.

"It's really beyond the reach of most," she said.

Next Article»«Previous Article

Name

Email¹

State

Country

Notify²

Comments³

Add 2 numbers

 2+8= 

(Note: If wrong - comments will not be posted)

 

To further have your say, head to our forum Click Here

To contribute a news article Click Here

To view or contribute a Quote Click Here

[ 2003 Index ]