“I don’t have to pay child support because I can’t work.”

That tale is spun by one parent to the other, unsuspecting parent surprisingly often.

But it generally isn’t so.

Almost always, income is income, whatever the source. And, generally speaking, all income is deemed to be available to serve as a source of support payment obligations.

Including social security disability benefits, retirement benefits, survivor benefits, and other earned benefits for which contributions were made.

(The one glaring exception is Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits, because those are purely income-based public assistance.)

Further, earned benefits can be garnished just like wages. Better still, the benefits recipient can’t thwart his / her support obligations by quitting and moving on to the next employer.

Read more in this Money magazine family finance Questions and Answers piece: How to Collect Child Support from an Ex’s Social Security Benefits .

New Mexico Husband and Wife have been married for over 18 years. They have two teenagers.

Husband is a wealthy investment fund portfolio manager.

Divorce was reportedly advancing amicably, with both having agreed to temporary alimony of $5 million for a year, while the parties’ real estate is sold.

Then Husband began stepping out with his new love interest … a Manhattanite who bears a striking resemblance and similarity to Wife … only fifteen years younger.

That may have been a strategic miscalculation on his part.

Wife allegedly now insists that the supposedly agreed upon $5 million won’t cut it after all.

Given that the parties reportedly enjoyed an annual income of $50 million and annual expenses of about $9 million for the past decade, Wife may actually have a point about the challenges of maintaining the marital standard of living for herself on just $5 million.

Read more in this New York Post article: Wife seeks more alimony over ex’s new lookalike girlfriend .

Mother has toddler Son.

Mother confessed to excessive physical punishment of Son. She also confessed to neglecting and failing to protect her Son.

While Mother’s Boyfriend apparently inflicted brain trauma, full body bruising and burns on Son.

Before leaving Son at a hospital. And then fleeing the state.

Mother and Boyfriend were both convicted and sentenced to prison, Boyfriend for 25.5 to 67 years on assault and other charges.

But Mother’s sentence was only for 2.5 to 7 years for child endangerment and witness tampering.

Mother testified against Boyfriend at his trial, asserting that Boyfriend also abused her.

The parole board has approved Mother’s parole in May upon completion of her minimum sentence.

Son currently lives with his grandmother and is reportedly doing well.

Read more in this Orlando Sentinel article: Mom who fled to Universal Orlando after tot’s beating gets parole

Connecticut Mother is raising Daughter alone since her divorce. Daughter is 17 years old.

At 18, Daughter will be considered a legal adult.

Daughter is diagnosed with cancer. The medical community claims an 80% or better success rate in treating Daughter’s type of cancer.

Daughter reportedly did not wish to undergo chemotherapy, describing it as “poison”. Daughter skipped some doctor’s appointments.

Doctors reported Daughter’s situation to the Department of Children and Families (DCF). DCF began juvenile court proceedings to remove Daughter from Mother’s custody and take her into protective custody of DCF.

And so Daughter was allegedly forced to undergo chemotherapy. And reportedly all but cut off from any contact with Mother during her chemotherapy.

Her cancer in remission and her treatment almost concluded, Daughter seeks to be returned to Mother’s custody or, failing that, to be allowed to have visitation with Mother. Although her treatment is normally performed on an outpatient basis, Daughter has been confined at her treating hospital as an inpatient.

Mother and Daughter anxiously await the Court’s ruling. Regardless, it is believed that Daughter will be permitted to return to live with Mother at the conclusion of her months’ long chemotherapy treatment.

Read more in

1. this Yahoo News article by way of the Associated Press: Teen forced to undergo chemo testifies at custody hearing and
2. this NBC news article: Connecticut Teen with Curable Cancer Fights to Stop Chemo .

Unlike getting a divorce, it is fairly easy to get married, most people would agree.

But, even so, there are a few impediments to marriage. As some rudely discover.

Woman has been involved with Man for eighteen years. Eighteen.

Now the time has come for them to tie the knot. Woman applies for marriage license.

But her application is … denied. Eighteen year relationship.

New York City clerks informed Woman that she is … already married. Since the age of 18.

To a man she is quite certain she has never met. At a time when she was already living with the lucky Man she wants to marry now … and some other extended family members.

Woman deduces that one of those others, who bore a family resemblance to her, “borrowed” her ID to pull off a scam to fund her “habit”. Eighteen years.

Woman appeals the denial of her marriage license and shares her deduction with a New York City administrative law judge. Who concurs with her analysis.

Administrative law judge reverses the denial of Woman’s marriage license and paves the way for Woman’s marriage to Man, after these eighteen years.

Read more in this New York Post article: Bride-to-be discovers that she’s already married.

Traditionally, prenuptial or antenuptial agreements, popularly known as prenups, were a vehicle by which a wealthier spouse could protect his assets and income in the event of his death or divorce from a less wealthy spouse. And that kind of prenup is still made.

These days though, neither spouse entering a prenup is necessarily particularly wealthy, but one or both typically does have some assets and some other heirs whose interests they want to protect.

Most often there are significant retirement interests, maybe a premarital home, maybe a premarital inheritance … and children from a previous marriage or relationship.

And contemporary spouses are equally concerned about and want to protect against the possibilities of death or divorce.

Sometimes prenups also lay out the financial ground rules for the upcoming marriage, such as how common expenses will be paid.

The agreements also set out how assets will be valued from a divorce perspective.

Read more in this Wall Street Journal article: A New Way to Use a Prenup .

No matter what amount of property is allocated to the second spouse in a divorce, the first spouse almost always feels it is too much.

But some marital estates are, objectively, in a class of their own, and the allocation to the second spouse usually follows suit.

So what are some of the biggest ticket divorces?

1. Media Mogul Rupert Murdoch: Wife Anna Torv received $1.8 billion
2. Oil Magnate Harold Hamm: Wife Sue Ann Arnall received a bit under $1 billion
3. Actor Mel Gibson: Wife Robyn Moore received $425 million
4. Golf Pro Tiger Woods: Wife Elin Nordegren settled for a bit under $100 million

Read more in this Yahoo! Finance article: America’s most expensive divorces

Twenty years ago at an international conference held in Beijing, the global community committed to securing equality for women.

Twenty years later, women have enjoyed advances on many fronts but, when it comes to abuse against women, despite more publicity and awareness, and more just laws on the books, there is only a bit of real progress in the trenches.

Violence against women remains rampant.

One third of women have been victims of violence.

One tenth of girls younger than eighteen have been raped.

One third of women who are murdered are murdered by their own partners.

Spousal rape continues to be legal in numbers of countries.

Domestic violence laws are at best inconsistently enforced. And as a result, domestic violence often goes unreported.

Just from an economic standpoint, the price of domestic violence runs high at a staggering $8 trillion.

More encouraging, compared to 1995, girls are as likely as boys to attend grade school.

More women have access to employment.

Death during childbirth has declined by fifty percent.

Twice as many women serve as legislators.

Except for 32 countries, all guarantee women equal rights on paper.

Member nations of the United Nations renewed their commitment to equality for women in a nonbinding declaration now targeting realization of equality for women by 2030.

Read more in this New York Times news article: U.N. Reveals ‘Alarmingly High’ Levels of Violence Against Women .

Eighteen year old Mother has 4 year old Daughter

Mother files report with police that her Daughter was forcibly abducted … by Mother’s mother (Grandmother) and stepfather (Grandfather) .. and transported to another town where Mother’s sister (Sister) resides.

Once police locate and interview Grandmother and Grandfather, they advise that Mother left Daughter at a nearby shopping mall four days before and that mall security had contacted them and requested that they come get Daughter.

The local child welfare agency took custody of Daughter and placed her with Sister.

Mother is arrested for making a false police report of child abduction … and held pending bail.

Read more in this Star News online news story: Woman charged in false child abduction report .

Here in South Florida, people get arrested for leaving children and pets locked in cars with no air conditioning. Floridians know how quickly a car can heat up in the Florida sun even when it is not extremely hot (by our standards).

Well, Buffalo, NY is near the opposite end of the spectrum.

Mother and Father leave their two Toddlers locked in their pickup truck without heat on a cold day, one of many this past winter. An observant citizen alerts authorities.

Authorities rescue Toddlers. And find marijuana in the truck … within the reach of the Toddlers.

Mother and Father are arrested and charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Father is also charged with possession, criminal use of drug paraphernalia and violating an order of protection.

Toddlers are taken into protective custody by the child welfare agency.

Read more in this WIVB 4 TV news article: Two arrested for leaving kids in truck without heat .