what expenses is CS supposed to cover?

FunkyTownMascot · 2023-02-22T02:40:38+00:00

In my case? It covered her new luxury car.

Alatornio · 2023-02-21T23:52:45+00:00

You have zero control over what it's used for. Its lottery winnings. It is free money.

It should cover food, clothing, and essentials, but it could be buying a replacement man a steak and kid gets chicken nuggets.

If kids get into extracurricular activities, you will probably be splitting the bill. My agreement says everything has to go through me first ( signing up for sports etc )

Im ok with giving more for the right stuff, but otherwise, it is what it is and she has to make due.

xjeeperx · 2023-02-22T17:58:46+00:00

Covers whatever they spend it on. No way to regulate it.

Well, there is but nobody cares enough to do it. It could easily be regulated by items that could be coded as child necessities in stores like EBT, or flex spending cards of course you’d still have people that sell them.

dday_throwaway3 · 2023-02-22T18:32:32+00:00

Child care is the sole responsibility of each parent during their parenting time. Don't agree to deviate from that.

deadBeefCafe2014 · 2023-02-22T22:26:38+00:00

I’m effectively paying two mortgages.

CRobinsFly · 2023-02-22T00:38:37+00:00

It's everything "general" - so housing, clothing, food.

Then she can nickle and dime you for deductibles and other "extra" stuff. My petty ex, who's in the process of suing me for parentage, sends me receipts for two dollars and fifty cents. $2.50. Seriously.

I offered her 1k/mo the other day to basically leave me alone and dismiss her parentage lawsuit. Nope! she wants more!!! She already makes 100k and doesnt need the money, obstructing my time with our child when I do visit. Well now until the court assigns it, she'll get nothing further and then when they do collect it, they'll have to get it from an independent contractor... good luck... should have taken the deal, ya bish!

Funny part about all of this is I recently snooped the legal details on the guy she left me for. She always said he was "an excellent father to his kids and deserves the 50/50 custody he has and you're trash and deserve none". He moved into my ex's house and must have stopped seeing his kids or stopped paying child support because his ex just sued him for it per the public records! They've been divorced for 5 years! LOL!

OutlawShah · 2023-02-22T02:50:06+00:00

In California child care and child support are two separate amounts the court can order. In most child support orders(at least from the agencies) there will be a child support amount but it will also include language for child care, what I saw most often was parties would split child care 50/50. So later she could bring her child care expenses to the child support agency and they’d file a motion to get half of that cost from the other party. Sometimes child care would just be ordered as a separate amount on top of child support. Guys making less than minimum wage wouldn’t be ordered to pay child care, but still would be ordered to pay child support.

metalmaniak68 · 2023-02-22T12:30:42+00:00

It’s SUPPOSED to be for the day to day needs of the child so they have the same quality of life at each house. So if she’s saying she wants Netflix added to child support then tell her to piss off cause that’s not a daily necessity.

rsmiley77 · 2023-02-22T13:29:31+00:00

Technically you owe what CS says you owe. Not a dime more. Here is where it gets weird though. The formula doesn't reflect parenting time here in PA. I don't seem to get much, if any, reduced CS for having my daughters 50 percent.

I will also note that it seems that they want to keep things as vague as possible when it comes to child support and what it covers. I have tried my best to figure it out but even looking at the actual law it is based on in Pennsylvania gives no real answers.

samk002001 · 2023-02-22T20:46:07+00:00

That money didn’t even hit your hand or bank account and it will go straight to her, and it’s safe to say that she can do and buy whatever she wants. There’s absolutely nothing you can do about it!

Objective_Problem_90 · 2023-02-22T23:25:13+00:00

In my state, daycare is an additional expense, in addition to child support , 50% of the bill.

CommanderOfCheese45 · 2023-02-23T20:30:22+00:00

Having kids around isn't cheap. It costs me somewhere around $400 per month in extra expenses to have my kids around, and that's basically what it costs my ex too. Incidentally that's somewhere around what I pay in child support. (Well, not for much longer -- custody it do be a changing).

You don't owe her extra money to pay for childcare. She can ask for it, and it may be in your parenting plan that you are supposed to pay some fraction of such 'shared' expenses.

No, child support should not be itemized.

FamilyLegalWriter · 2023-02-26T22:26:15+00:00

Here's what you owe her:
-What the court says
-What you decide to give out of the goodness of your heart.

If she is going back to work, this could affect the amount of CS you'll need to pay.

If she wants you to pay for childcare while she gets a job, she should petition the court or ask you nicely.

You could agree to help her for a few weeks until her first check comes in, however, I would get that in writing and let her know that it's for a specified amount of time. Have her sign it before you give her a dime.

This is not legal advice and you should consult a CS attorney if you're still unsure of what to do.

Title	what expenses is CS supposed to cover?
Author	rockbliss
Upvotes	7
Comments	16
Date	February 21, 2023 10:44 PM UTC (3 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/Divorce_Men
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/Divorce_Men/comments/118hhun/what_expenses_is_cs_supposed_to_cover/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/Divorce_Men/what-expenses-is-cs-supposed-to-cover.1153819 https://theredarchive.com/post/1153819

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