Kimberly Seals Allers raised a few eyebrows earlier this year when she walked into the Queens County Family Court for approval to forgive $38,750 in child support arrears from her ex husband.
The award-winning journalist recently wrote about her decision in an editorial for the New York Times Motherlode blog.
In the wake of the shooting death of Walter Scott by a South Carolina police officer, much attention has been given to the many flaws of the U.S. child support system. In Ms. Seals Allers’ case, she realized a key difference between an unwillingness to pay child support and inability to pay.
She recognized that her ex husband was paying what he could and contributing to the upbringing of their children in non-monetary ways. She also was determined to prevent child support debt from driving a wedge between her children and their father.
Ms. Seals Allers joined DadsDivorce Live to explain why forgiving those child support arrears was the best decision for her family and to discuss how the child support system often tears at the fabric of American families.
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