Davis recently created an advertisement that begins by targeting women and asking them how they would like to make “thousands of dollars” by “staying at home.” It then instructs them to do so by getting pregnant, having a child, getting rid of the father, using a free state-appointed attorney to sue the father, and spending the child support money on vacations, alcohol, clubs and expensive restaurants. “Guess what? That’s all legal in Texas!” Davis says in the ad.
He then instructs men to use an attorney to fight these laws and “even the odds” so that they are not stuck paying tremendous amounts of child support that will be misused and will not benefit their children.
Just Sayin’ . . .
Davis apologized for the controversy caused by the ad, saying that his intention was to bring up the problem of accountability for child support paid to mothers, not to divide the genders or cast a poor light on hardworking single mothers.
“Generally, the idea of child support is a good thing, people need to take care of their kids, but it’s so abused in the state of Texas,” Davis said.
According to Davis, when someone pays child support, they pay it to the Attorney General who then issues a debit card to the recipient. Unlike a food stamp or EBT card, this debit card can be used anywhere, including bars, restaurants, clothing stores or even to book online vacations.
Fighting the issue can also be difficult. However, according to Davis, if a woman has a baby, the father is unlikely to get custody and has no choice but to pay child support. He cites a case in which one of his male clients was ordered to pay $1,400 per month for a six-month-old infant, a ruling he calls “ridiculous.” He also points out that the law encourages women to have babies with different fathers. If a woman has all her children with one man, she receives less child support than if she has children by different men.
Many of the problems brought up by Davis’ ad are also a rising concern in California. For fathers who are struggling to cope with child custody and child support issues, it is important that they have sound legal advice. The attorneys at the Men’s Legal Center can help.
