According to the Census Bureau, roughly two-thirds (69.3 percent) of custodial parents who were owed child support received partial payments from noncustodial parents, while only 43.5 percent said they received the entire amount that was due to them. Parents not paying child custody isn't always a case of wealthy parents but also that of parents who can't afford it. In some cases, they can afford it and yet decide against it. This was the case in one particular case shared on Reddit recently.
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Getty Images | Photo by Mikael Vaisanen
The person was also subjected to non-payment of child support by their wealthy father but they refused to succumb to the situation and decided in favor of legal action. They shared their situation on Reddit and asked if they were wrong for "suing my biological father for unpaid child support?” They further wrote, "He refused to pay it at all and somehow got away with it." They also added that their mother had died and they are her only child because they had no relationship with the father. They sought justice. Therefore, they sued the father on behalf of their mother's estate.
They won this case and received $350,000 and their legal fees. The father initially claimed that he lacked the resources that were needed to make support his child but then went on to pay up. That wasn't the end of it though. Their father's current wife took to social media and posted about "b*stards wanting a payday." Even the Reddit user's family and friends did not support them, as they mentioned on that "some of the family and friends think that I shouldn't have used the legal system to get the money that wasn't technically mine."
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After reading their story, the Reddit user received a lot of support. One person wrote, "The money is technically yours. Literally, the reason why people pay is to support the child (you). It doesn't seem like he was ever in a bad financial position and he abandoned you. Financial support is the minimum." Another Reddit user wrote "the law was on your side. You got what is rightfully yours. The world needs more deadbeats being held accountable for their actions. So good for you!" While one also wrote, "I wish your mom could be here to see this." Another user also wrote "350K is supposed to cover all the anxiety you and your mom had to cope with because he didn't do his share of the support." Comments further read "your friends and family have nothing to do with this. We are told at a young age to take responsibility, some people never really learn that."
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Thus, this Reddit user won in the court of justice and in the court of public opinion. Sometimes we need legal recourse to get what is rightfully ours and support from others to know that we are in the right. Author Helen Edwards, who wrote the book Nothing Sexier Than Freedom, famously wrote in it "child support is both a money angel and a demon who taunts the soul." For this Reddit user, it was a demon first and on legally fighting it out, it became a money angel!
