LawyersUSA

A new survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers reveals that 55 percent of its members have seen an increase.

Further, 42 percent of the attorneys surveyed have seen an increase in the size of the overall payment amounts.

James Hennenhoefer, the president of AAML, attributed this increase to federally mandated guidelines which consider such factors as the income of each parent, but do not consider gender.

"Many states have these mechanical approaches or computer programs where you push a button and it announces to everyone what they pay in child support. If mom is making $10,000 a month and dad is making $4,000, it puts those numbers into the equation without this inherent bias."

The survey also showed that only 1 percent of respondents saw in increase in fathers making child support payments. 44 percent said they did not notice a difference.

The survey also took into account the size of child support payments, with 42 percent of the divorce lawyers surveyed reporting an increase and only 14 percent citing a decrease.

These numbers are unlikely to change in upcoming years, said Hennenhoefer.

"This isn't like ten or fifteen years ago. What we have now is a unisex system, with guidelines coined and created by government agencies. The judicial attitude these days is quite different."

Questions or comments can be directed to the writer at: justin.rebello@lawyersusaonline.com