Ex-husbands have no rights

There has been so much publicity lately about enforcing child-support laws. I agree a father should pay child support, but the laws have gone too far. It is time the laws were changed to protect the ex-husbands and give them some rights, also.

It is time the public knew what is happening to ex-husbands, the unfair child-support laws in this state and the unethical lawyers who push these laws for profit.

My husband just went back to court for an increase in child support. What most people don’t realize is that the figure is based on his gross pay, which includes any overtime he has worked, which forces a man to work overtime. In my husband’s case, he has serious medical problems, but the judge still forced him to continue working overtime.

The only reason he started working overtime was because he couldn’t support two families on 40 hours a week, and now the ex-husband is entitled to what extra we had to support us, and my husband is forced to work around 60 hours or more a week. Also, this overtime is not a secure income so what if it stops or is decreased substantially, after an increase in child support?

Child support should be based on net pay after taxes and should not include overtime worked. He doesn’t live on his gross pay; taxes take about 30 percent of his pay, so why is child support based on gross pay? Also, he is not entitled to claim the children on income tax even though he is 89 percent of their support. Unless the ex-wife signs a waiver, try to get her to sign this. What a joke. This is not right. He is their support. He should be able to claim them automatically.

Every time the ex-wife takes him back to court he has to pay all of her lawyer’s fees. This last time my husband had to pay $1,700 for her lawyer and $800 for his own lawyer for one court appearance… Deborah Dorr Bucksport