If you and your child’s other parent are getting a divorce, you naturally expect the other parent to pay a fair share of your child’s basic expenses — such as food, shelter and clothing. After all, that is the purpose of child support.
But your expenses for your child don’t stop there. There are a lot of expenses that the parent with primary custody often has to manage — and child support should be negotiated with that in mind. Depending on your child’s age, interests and abilities, here are some of the things your child may need beyond the absolute basics:
- Sports equipment, team fees, uniform costs, registration costs and transportation and lodging during out-of-town games
- School photos, yearbooks and honor society inductions
- Private tutoring in dance, music, golf, tennis or something similar
- Recital fees and instrument costs or dance costumes
- Tutoring and other academic assistance, including educational materials
- Fees for art classes, theater dues and acting classes
- The cost to attend school outings, including trips out of town
- The expense of church camps, summer camps, computer camps or enrichment camps
- Computer equipment, e-readers, cellular phones and a cellular plan
- A college savings account or a similar fund that will help your child get started as an adult
- Money to purchase the child’s first vehicle and help cover the cost of insurance for a while
- Therapy that isn’t covered by insurance (or the co-pays) for speech and language problems or other developmental issues
Don’t let yourself be put into the position where you’re stuck paying for all of these things alone — or be forced to make your child do without unnecessarily. Find out how an experienced attorney at our firm may be able to help with your child support negotiations.