Queens Tribune

Women have to act like “gangstas” to get child support these days.

That notion is what inspired Arelia Taveras to title her new book “The Gangsta Girl’s Guide to Child Support.”

Taveras, an attorney, is the managing partner of The Taveras Law Group, a law firm located in Corona, and is best known for her work representing many families of the victims of the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 and her work with families of the victims of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, as well as being the official legal counsel for the office of Assemblyman Jose Peralta.

She wrote this book as a result of feeling increasingly frustrated with the issue of child support collection.

“I had just come from a court appearance and I was dumbfounded by the lack of knowledge a lot of the clients had when they were going into the courthouse,” Taveras said. “Women need to get more educated on what their child is entitled to.”

Taveras’ book acts as a guide for women who are in the court system, trying to get paid child support from “deadbeat” dads, and also highlights some examples of the extents many men have gone to in order to avoid paying child support, not in an effort to vilify these men, but to show women a broad range of how women have been duped in the past.

Taveras intentionally uses street vernacular and coins certain terms such as “Shaggy Brother,” “Houdini Brother,” and “Svengali Brother,” in order to categorize the most common types of behavior by men (usual suspects, as Taveras calls them) who fail to pay, and also keep the book light and fun while making it educational.

“Shaggy Brothers” were named for the hit song by Shaggy, “It Wasn’t Me,” and refers to dads who claim it wasn’t them who got their girlfriends or wives pregnant. The “Houdini Brother” was named for the dad who disappears when he finds out about the pregnancy, while the “Svengali Brother” was named for the guy who has his woman so hypnotized by his charm that he convinces her to agree to terms that are in opposition to the best interests of the child.

“These men are coming up with these schemes all in an effort to not feed their children,” Taveras said. “It’s terrible.”

Taveras also goes into detail about some of the remedies the courts have been implementing in order to combat the usual suspects’ common behaviors. For example, if a man moves in with his mom and stops working, the courts will now assess the value of the room the man lives in at his mother’s house, and that will be considered income.

The most important messages Taveras is seeking to convey are for women to get educated, so they won’t be duped and for them to always keep their children’s best interests as their top priority.

“Don’t be upset if your husband has a girlfriend and a new family – it works for you because it increases your husband’s disposable income if the girlfriend is working,” Taveras said. “And you have to be patient. This is a process, but once it’s in place, it’s staying in place.”

“The Gangsta Girls’ Guide to Child Support” is available in English and Spanish and can be ordered at www.gangstapress.com or by calling (718) 429-7727.