My husband was divorced in 1999 (so thats when the divorce papers were drawn up with the child support/visitation obligations). Since then ALOT has changed. To spare you the drama, his daughter is now 14, and lives in Southern Ca, we are in Northern Ca, we have been married alost 10 years, have 3 small kids, his ex is remarried, has 2 small kids. They recently went back to court(beg.of this year) because she "felt she could get more money" from him. They went to court & the support went from $550/m to $1050 (because he started his own business & makes more). They agreed upon that amount, & she would pay 100% of travel (daughter flies here). That's all the new court order states. My question is, she is now asking for him to pay half of their daughter's school expenses....which would mean he would send her about $1200 this month (if he did send it). Does he "have" to? No where does it say so. He is going to the courts this next week to talk to the facilitator to have the order modified (he is quitting his extra job to be home more) & for some other reasons. Should he just wait to talk to the courts about paying her any more? Any input would be greatly appreciated.
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Verified answer
Does he "have" to? No. Unless it is written out separately in the divorce paperwork that he is responsible for school expenses in addition to regular child support, he is not obligated.
Is your child support court appointed? Court appointed settlements use charts to figure the amount of support you should get, so that just includes normal upkeep (food, new clothes, shelter). If it was settled by an attorney though, it was probably much more personalized and if the child was playing the sport at the time of the divorce, it's possible that they may have factored it in. If the child started later, it would definitely be 'post settlement' and you would not be overstepping your bounds by approaching the other parent to split the costs. It would probably be helpful for you to put together a list of equipment that the child needs, the registration fees, and any other costs that you expect to incur (talk to the coach... if the team travels, you want to be sure to include that!), and tell the other parent that the child is very interested in playing, but you can't cover the costs on your own. I think that the problems a lot of child support payers have is that they're not involved in YOUR life anymore so they have no way of knowing that the money they're giving you is being used for the child. If you can show them proof I think the process would be much easier. P.S. You can even split the costs so they're not in half, but so they work out to be close. i.e. You pay the registration and give dad the shopping list. Then he's not forking over a check to you, but he's still helping his child.
He pays only what was ordered. $1050 is more than enough for 1 kid and includes all expenses. Ex wife is a loser/user. We have kids and my husband has 2 from a previous marriage. We spend less on our kids then his child support payments - as do most others in our position.
If you pay 50/50 then you should start paying $550 again like tracy's mis-informed answer neglected to state.
We wish we could spend $250 a week on each of our children.
EDIT: thanks "all we need is" it's the simple truth. And numbers don't lie.
in my husbands court order for cs before he got full custody of her, was only half of the cost of needs.not activities cause that is a want and not necessary.they went off my husbands income and his ex's previous income before quiting her job for more child support.it actually came back on her in the end,cause the cs didn't change before and after working and she was left struggling for money to pay for her child.my husband didn't have to pay anything that wasn't in the cs order.our newborn doesn't cost us more than 175.00 a month for formula,diaper,wipes,etc.so its funny how your husbands ex needs more money for a child that had wants that aren't needs.in this economy she is nuts to think the kids need that extra stuff.his ex is money hungry.she is using the kids as an excuse for more money and then most likely wont use it on them.many women come up with extra"needs" for more money.but it jut fattens up their pockets in the end and the judges always feel bad for them and make the father suffer and go broke,while the ex and kids are living a great like.its sad how the cs system works these days.
Absolutely not.
He's only obligated to pay what the child support order states.
In most states, school expenses are included in the "basic child support calculator", Even if she requests that it be added, it will likely get denied.
If it was not ordered in the modified C/S agreement, then no, he does not have to give her any more money than what has been ordered. This seems to be a common theme from some moms just to get even more money.
@Lana- EXACTLY!
The father is obligated only to the child support. Anything he spends over that, is at his own choice.
If it's not court ordered than he does not have to pay any extras.
Yes it is his duty to pay for half of those expenses. The daughter is theirs 50/50 right? As in she is half the Mum's child and half the Dad's child...right?