NOW - NEW YORK STATE SUPPORT MEMO
Additional Enforcement Mechanisms for the Collection of Spousal or Child Support
A5979 (Weinstein) S2977 (Sampson)
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The National Organization for Women – New York State, Inc. supports A5979/S2977, legislation which would amend sections of the domestic relations law in order to give the courts additional discretion and enforcement powers concerning the payment of spousal or child support. Women and children depend on this money for survival. There needs to be greater enforcement so that spouses and young people have the financial support that is owed to them.
The majority of custodial parents, approximately five out of six, are women. And the majority of those women do not receive all of the child support payments which are due to them. According the Federal Office of Child Support, $96 million worth of child support went unpaid in 2003. These trends result in numerous women and children being denied the financial backing which they desperately need, and either desperate measures to procure the money or poverty may then ensue.
New York State needs to protect and defend its women and children, especially those who live in need of spousal or child support. It is the state’s responsibility to ensure that these women and children remain economically viable, and that they are provided for fully. Thus, further measures need to be allowed so that courts may fully enforce that payments be made, and so that mothers are not burdened entirely by proving their need or lack of support. NOW-NYS, Inc. strongly supports this legislation, which will ensure that those who have legal financial obligations fulfill them. The futures of many of New York State’s women and children depend upon it.
Marcia Pappas
President, NOW NYS
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