Paying down the mortgage while on Child Support

dday_throwaway3 · 2026-02-25T01:39:30+00:00

The ROI on paying off a home is way lower than putting that money into the market and making 10-12% in the S&P 500 (VTSAX, VTI, etc).

PghSubie · 2026-02-24T19:58:57+00:00

My child support calc was only based upon my income, so it wouldn't have mattered. The equity/debt of the previous/marital house only mattered for the divorce settlement itself, nothing forward

Empress1978 · 2026-02-24T19:33:00+00:00

We sold ours and made a shitload of money and split it - neither of us could afford it alone and ain’t no way either of us was buying the other out. We didn’t have kids tho - I assume you have a reason you wanna keep the hose as I don’t know your whole situation. Any chance you’d just sell and downsize?

no_user_selected · 2026-02-24T18:46:50+00:00

In my state, child support is only based on income so it wouldn't matter.

If your mortgage is taken into account for support, maybe just put it in a savings account until the 14 years are over and pay it off then.

Objective-Fan-5464 · 2026-02-24T18:44:01+00:00

I'm assuming that your concern is that once your mortgage is paid off, your ex may ask for more since your expense have gone down?

I'm in Texas so this is where my experience lies. Here, your CS payment is based on income (and capped) and not on expenses.

It would depend on your state but I'm not aware of any state that bases CS based on net income after expenses rather than gross income.

TheConjugalVisit · 2026-02-24T18:36:49+00:00

I tried to make an extra payment a month and paid off my 30 year fixed mortgage in 17. I can't really give you advice because I don't have kids but can they do that, wasn't it agreed upon in the divorce or will she just take you back to court? Sorry you're going through this, divorce sucks. Marriage? Never again.

Title	Paying down the mortgage while on Child Support
Author	koskesh122
Upvotes	3
Comments	20
Date	February 24, 2026 6:33 PM UTC (5 months ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/Divorce_Men
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/Divorce_Men/comments/1rdofok/paying_down_the_mortgage_while_on_child_support/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/Divorce_Men/paying-down-the-mortgage-while-on-child-support.1574168 https://theredarchive.com/post/1574168

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