Final Divorce Agreement 9: Child Support

(Remember I am not a lawyer or professional of any kind. These are purely my thoughts on my own personal experiences.)


Child support: one of the most debated subjects of all time. At least among those who are divorced. It is not uncommon to hear one parent say, "He pays almost nothing in child support!" And then to have the other parent say, "I pay her way too much in child support."

So, who is right?

Here's the thing, and I touched bases on this in my Taxes post (see list of past divorce agreement posts below), but it takes a lot more to raise a kid than people usually think.

Of course there are the obvious expenses: Place to live, food to eat, clothes to wear.

Then there are the other expenses that you may not have thought of. Like hygienic products. Your kids have to have toothpaste, soap, shampoo, deodorant, that time of the month products for girls (which adds up super quick) . The house then has to be clean, so you are always buying cleaners, detergents, etc. The kid will add to the utility bills (maybe not a lot, but as you can see, this list is adding up). There will be school fees, not to mention other activities they may get involved in. Like soccer or ballet. Forbid your kid gets really good at something and they get the chance to go to finals or on a tour or something similar. Money, Money, Money. Do you ever buy them a treat? Or toys? Do you ever go someplace fun with them? One trip to the movies and your wallet is toast.

Throughout a child's life they will need diapers, car seats, stools to reach the sink, bedding, sunblock, hair ties, car insurance.

The list goes on and on.

And we aren't even talking about medical bills in this post.

Now, some of this should be covered by child support, and some of it isn't. Like, my final agreement has separate clauses for medical, dental, eye care, child care expenses, etc. And then I have a clause that simply says that my ex will continue to pay me child support. I tried to get a clause in there about my ex having to pay for half of all expenses. Like expenses that would incur at school, but it didn't make it into the final agreement.

This is a tricky subject to blog about, as with all things go ask your lawyer about it. I would ask him what is covered in child support and what is not. That way I would know what else I needed to put in my final agreement.

In my state there is a simple to use calculation and online form to determine child support. You put in each parent's income and then it spits out a number to pay in child support. If you aren't working, they will impute minimum wage to you at full time work to do the calculation. Of course the court can change whatever it wants to.

I was told that Child support is not taxable income. That money is to re-imburse you for taking care of the child. That money is the child's, not yours. I'm not saying that when the payment check comes in you should hand it over to your kid, I'm saying that you use that money to take care of your children.



For Past Final Divorce Agreement Posts, read:

Final Divorce Agreement 8: Debts

Final Divorce Agreement 7: Who claims the kids on the taxes?

Final Divorce Agreement 6: If you don't include it, it won't matter

Final Divorce Agreement 5: Contact Information

Final Divorce Agreement 4: Arrearage

Final Divorce Agreement 3: Transportation

Final Divorce Agreement 2: Life Insurance

Final Divorce Agreement 1: Always Reread the Document