There is physical custody and legal custody. Alabama defaults to joint
legal custody (both parents must be involved in decisions of school,
education, major medical) unless there is some reason that the parents
cannot communicate about these issues.
Physical custody in Alabama is decided on a 'Best Interests of the
Child' standard. That means that the person that attends parent-teacher
conferences, takes the child to the doctor/dentist, helps the child with
their daily activities (getting up, dressed, to school, etc) is likely
to be the parent to receive primary physical custody. In our society,
it is usually Mom that does these activities. If more Dads were willing
to skip a day of work to take care of these things, more Dads would get
custody.
In an unmarried situation, it is very likely that the parent having
custody is going to be Mom. That's because there's a whole bunch of
folks around when Mom delivers the child. One would hope that babies
aren't created in a group setting. By the time many custody/support
cases get to court, Mom is already the primary caregiver. Mom is not
allowed to list a legal father unless she is married to him at the time
of the birth. Personally, I think that a DNA test should be required
before ANY father is listed.
Alabama does not have a parenting (aka visitation) plan coded in law, it
is up to the parties in a child custody case to work out who gets the
child when. There are a few judges that have 'standard' visitation
plans, but it is not statewide.
http://alisondb.legislature.state.al.us/acas/CodeOfAlabama/1975/128972.htm
On to Child Support:
Treat your checking account like a swimming pool. Every month, you add
500 gallons of water from child support. You add another 1000 gallons
from your job. Maybe you have a birthday and get another 50 gallons for
gifts.
Now, you take 300 gallons out to pay your rent. You take 200 gallons out
for food. Another 200 gallons for medical care.
How in the world would you be expected to know that the gallons you took
out for food, clothing, etc was the same as the money that went in for
child care? Obviously, you can't. Treat your checking account like a
swimming pool. Every month, you add 500 gallons of water from child
support. You add another 1000 gallons from your job. Maybe you have a
birthday and get another 50 gallons for gifts.
Now, you take 300 gallons out to pay your rent. You take 200 gallons out
for food. Another 200 gallons for medical care.
How in the world would you be expected to know that the gallons you took
out for food, clothing, etc was the same as the money that went in for
child care? Obviously, you can't.
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Alabama is a shared income model when determining Child Support. The
Custodial Parent's and the Non-Custodial Parent's incomes are taken as a
whole. A percentage of that is determined to be the amount of Child
Support.
http://www.alacourt.gov/ChildSupportObligations.aspx
And trust me, one can't live on Child Support any more than one can live
on Unemployment in Alabama.
Let's look at expenses for a family of two (parent/child).
House: $800
Utilities: $400
TV: $75
Groceries/Sundries: $ 500
Total: $1775
Half that amount is $887.50. I've not included school supplies,
clothing, activities, gas, insurance or cell phones. If both parents
are making $40k/year, Child Support in Alabama will run about $343 a month.
And one cannot DEPEND on child support. It's considered a happy bonus.
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