The " Child support " dilemma !

Today is the dawn of a new financial year - and with it comes a whole new way of thinking when it comes to the implementation of child support.

Child support has long deem a dilemma for both separating couples with children - and the agencies tasked to settle the mess they leave behind. It has been a scene of confusion that has pleased nobody.

Originally child support was devised as a way of making " Deadbeat Dads " contribute to the upkeep of their children. The scheme was heavily slanted in favour of women and draconian payment orders took no account of men who made a new start with resulting new dependent children.

The implementation of rigid formulas to determine payment levels led to a plethora of cases which were grossly unfair, but which were relentlessly pursued by the Child Support Agency ( CSA ).

All that has been overturned and a more relaxed approach will now apply. The income of both parties will be taken into account and for the first time the reality of how much time the child spends with each parent will have a bearing on the amount of money involved.

There will be winners - and losers. Some women on high salaries will be dismayed to find that they will be required to pay child support to a lower earning male who has the custody of the children.

Some men - who have completely avoided any contact with their offspring - may suddenly acquire a need to fraternise - because that reduces their payments .

There will be no perfect solution to the problem of marriage breakup - and it's effect on the children involved - but at least this is an improvement on the ham fisted previous arrangement - and hopefully wiser heads further down the track will implement further fine tuning.