What child support really is for

There are a lot of misconceptions out there about what exactly child support is supposed to pay for and what it is not. Some people believe that child support must be used exclusively for food and clothing for the kids. Others believe that the paying parent has the right to request proof that child support payments are being used specifically for these items.
But the truth is that neither of those beliefs is true. Child support is supposed to cover many expenses of raising kids, including but not limited to food, clothing, housing, medical expenses, schooling, day care, and extracurricular activities. And, the receiving parent is under no obligation to provide documentation to the paying parent of how child support money is being spent. The courts assume that the custodial parent will spend the money appropriately toward the costs of raising the kids. To take it even further, child support can be used to help cover the costs of sending your kids to college. It can also be used to take your kids to the movies or for travel or for soccer camp. If it is a legitimate and acceptable cost of raising kids these days, then the courts reason it is perfectly reasonable to use child support money to help pay for it. When parents are married, they share the financial responsibilities of raising kids. The courts therefore reason that, when parents separate or divorce, they should still share financial responsibility for the kids. Children have a legal right to financial support from both of their parents… which means that child support is not actually a right of either parent. It is a right of the children to receive financial support. When we created SupportPay, we created a feature that allows the parent receiving the child support to document how the money is being spent. Even though the law does not require the receiving parent to provide this information to the paying parent, the transparency that is created by our system greatly improves communication. And I think we can all agree that improved transparency and communication with your ex makes things so much better!