Child support — covering the actual expenses that are actually incurred in the actual support of the children?
Yet "child support" in practice seems to be a way for divorce lawyers to have divorcing/divorced parents in conflict and incurring legal expenses (a) that the divorcing/divorced parents can’t afford as a practical matter and/or (b) that deplete funds that otherwise would be available for the support of the children who are supposedly to be supported by the "child support" payments at issue.
That’s a problem.
A solution would be to have both divorcing/divorced parents make child support payments into a support trust fund and then to give each parent a debit card that they can use to withdraw monies to pay the actual expenses of the children. The amount that each parent can withdraw can be set according to the actual expenses of the children in each household and the differences in income, etc.
That approach would also bring a bit of parental/financial accountability which is totally lacking at present — and without which it in some situations it is not even accurate to call child support payments "child support".
In addition, cases where the child has two "deadbeat" parents could be identified. Under the present child support regime, a non-paying parent who is a "deadbeat" (i.e. who does not get a job to provide financial support for the children) must only suffer imputed income; a paying parent who is a "deadbeat" will lose his hunting license (among other things like having to go to jail). It is possible and in some cases likely that the non-paying parent is not making a suitable financial contribution to the support of the children — which is by law an obligation of each parent.
Imputed income does nothing for the children; in fact, it harms the children because it reduces the obligation of the other parent and the total support payment.
Why have divorce lawyers conditioned to set up child support disputes as mother v. father? — that does no good for the children. Child support should be mother and father for children.
If both parents had to make child support payments by formula according to their income, no arguments, no exceptions, the result would be gender-equality that we all want to achieve in society, reduced mother v. father hostility, complete financial accountability, and a better net result for the children.