Mediate Michigan

(Please note: this article is written by an attorney/mediator in CA and not all the legal information may be applicable to your state)

We all have heard of so-called “urban legends.” In fact, there was an Urban Legends movie a few years back with two sequels later.

Each film was popular and made millions of dollars.

We have all heard of them. We have heard of the escaped lunatic with a hook for a hand, the annoying truck driver warning of the unseen man in the back seat and the babysitter who gets a call asking “have you checked on the children?” Urban legends provide great fun around girl scout campfires as the scouts eat their s’mores.

Urban legends, however, can arise in less fun areas of life as well. Specifically, there are a number of urban legends which have grown up around family law. Relying on these urban legends will provide not just a sleepless night while your belly tries to digest an overdose of s’mores. Relying on the family law urban legends can cost the victim heartache and lots of dollars.

In Part 1 of this discussion, we will concentrate on family law urban legends involving child support.

The first child-support-related family law urban legend is a very popular one. This urban legend says that, if you get “50/50″ custody, no one will have to pay child support. This is a particularly popular urban legend among higher-earning parents. Of course, it is simply not true. The only time that it would be true would be if the two parents made exactly the same amount of money.

via Family Law “Urban Legends” (Part 1).