The child support system in New York poses serious obstacles for custodial parents to navigate, often entirely on their own. For survivors of intimate partner violence, the burden can become more challenging, especially considering the ways we have seen abusers further weaponize the system.
Alet Haywood, Director of NYLAG’s Domestic Violence Law Unit, spoke with Law360 for their Access to Justice reporting on the flaws in the system, including the consequences of a low minimum support order:
“$25 a month — can’t find lunch in some places,” Alet Haywood, the director of the Domestic Violence Law Unit at the nonprofit New York Legal Assistance Group told Law360.
Legal aid organizations assisting low-income litigants say New York’s child support system is riddled with systemic issues, but point to minimum child support payments, court inefficiencies and lack of legal representation as sources of major hurdles for both custodial and noncustodial parents…
Custodial parents must file a petition in family court to obtain child support, often requiring months or even years before a final decision is made. Attorneys say the court system moves slowly in processing petitions, often requiring several court appearances. Custodial parents, who are overwhelmingly unrepresented, sometimes have to wait over a year just to get a first hearing.
“I have had some child support cases that have taken two, three years to resolve because they’re going through trial,” Haywood said.
The statutory minimum child support order of $25 per month per child, in particular, is a frequent point of criticism. Courts often default to the statutory amount when a noncustodial parent earns little or no income, or when financial information about their earnings is unavailable…
And while the overall intent behind the minimum payment is to ensure some level of financial contribution from noncustodial parents, attorneys say it creates more harm than good.
Read the full article in Law360 published on February 21, 2025.
