What can we do about child support in the state of AR?

Its not always fair, but the mother gets to decide how to spend the money and the father gets no say. If you restrict access to the money in any way then its not child support. The only recourse you may have is that if the child is not properly being cared for you can order the court to ask her to give a complete accounting of how the money was spent. You can of course put any additional money aside for the child outside of child support and restrict that. You may also chose to fight for additional custody of the child which if won can reduce or eliminate child support.

Child Support money DOES NOT GO TO THE CHILD. it goes to THE MOTHER (or Custodial Parent) to help SUPPORT the child, for things like a higher rent because the child needs its own bedroom, more gas or electricity for cooking, higher food bills, higher medical bills, and so on. And $50 a week barely makes a dent in any of this! HE GOT OFF EASY!

Most courts DO NOT allow "tracking" of where the money goes. It would be impossible to even estimate how much of the rent is needed to "support" the child, as the majority of the living space is SHARED, how much cooking gas or electricity is needed to prepare the child's meals as most cooking is COMBINED, how much is spent on food specifically for the child unless the child needs a special diet, and so on.

Money given directly to the child DOES NOT count as Child Support. That is a GIFT -- a good idea, if the child is old enough to learn money management (kinda like an allowance), but it DOES NOT fulfill your legal arrangements.

if AR has a means where the STATE collects the Child Support money and then disburses it to the Mother, then you MUST USE THAT. ONLY money paid to the state collection agency is counted as Child Support (doesn't matter what the mother says happened) -- ALL other money paid to the mother or child is a GIFT. You could pay $20,000 directly to the mother, and STILL be arrested and billed for back payments if you never paid anything through the State Agency!

Do things BY THE BOOK, don't try to be so controlling -- the money no longer belongs to you, and worry more about keeping up appearances of a LOVING relationship between mother and father FOR THE SAKE OF THE CHILD.

If you want to start a checking account, by all means do so, BUT YOU STILL NEED TO PAY THE CHILD SUPPORT through the legally-authorized methods.

You file with the child support department and request he make the payments to the court and they forward them to the mother. Most states will do this because a large number of fathers refuse to make child support payments as a way of punishing the mothers. (It only hurts the children or forces the mother to claim welfare) Good Luck

Why doesn't he pay her by check? Then when she cashes it he can prove she's been getting it? Or have the state garnish the money right from his workplace.

DO NOT set up anything via the banks...if she bounces checks and the account goes negative then who is stuck with that mess? Don't do it.