Child support arrangements are often hard-fought and the source of many hours of toil in court. However, the United States Census Bureau reports that billions of dollars in child support payments go unpaid every year.
People try to slip out of their obligations to their children and the people who are doing the hard work of raising them.
But one dad decided to make a statement with his most recent child support payment by dumping a trailer-full of 80,000 pennies on the front lawn of his ex-wife’s property – but the children ended up getting the last laugh.
After a child support hearing, 80,000 pennies were dumped on the lawn of an ex-wife. The judge ordered that the money that was owed be paid back to mom immediately. The judge said that the child support was going to remain where it currently is until this debt had been paid off in full.
He decided to dump pennies on the front lawn because he thought that it would be a statement. He probably did not think about how difficult it would be for him to get his money back from doing this, though!
The child support arrangement was something that people typically fought over after divorce, but billions of dollars in unpaid payments go out every year, and the children are the ones who suffer.
This dad thought that dumping pennies on mom’s lawn would be a statement, but it was actually something very childish and immature. He got himself into more trouble because of this action!
While this dad thought that dumping pennies would be a statement, mom’s court order is still in place until the debt has been paid off. This means that there is no change in child support even though he did something so childish and immature.
The dad in question has not been publicly named, but his teenage daughter is more than happy to speak up about her dad’s childish behavior. Eighteen-year-old Avery Sanford was horrified when her dad dumped tens of thousands of pennies on her mom’s front lawn.
While Avery knows what her dad did was wrong, she wants other people to see how vile the behavior really was. She hopes that the penny example can serve as a reminder of domestic abuse and the parental manipulation that often goes on during custody battles and throughout the divorce process.
However, dad made things much worse with his despicable stunt because he did it on Avery’s eighteenth birthday. The occasion was supposed to be a happy time – not one marred by the cruelty of her biological father. His pettiness to teach his ex-wife a lesson rubbed people the wrong way but sent a clear message to Avery that her dad cares more about making a statement than supporting her on her birthday.
The penny dump was caught on home surveillance footage. At first, Avery’s mom had no idea what was happening.
“She didn’t know who it was until he shouted, ‘It’s your final child support payment,” Avery told WTVR. “It’s not just my mom he’s trying to embarrass. It’s also my sister and me, and it’s upsetting that he didn’t consider that before he did that.”
That’s when Avery and her mom got the idea to do something helpful with the money. They decided to donate the 80,000 pennies to a domestic abuse charity called Safe Harbor.
“Turning around and donating that money to moms and children in need, I feel like that really turns this situation into a positive,” Avery shared. “You can learn from it.”
