It’s a fundamental question – what is child support? We here at SupportPay talk a lot about child support, how to track it, and how to pay it. But I think sometimes we need to start at the very beginning of this process, and making sure that all the parties involved in the childcare process fully understand it.
In the most basic sense, child support are court ordered payments that are made generally on behalf of a noncustodial or primary divorced parent, with the aim of supporting the health and wellbeing of their child or children through to adulthood (typically 18 years of age).
What can it be spent on?
It’s a question we receive often, both from parents who have been paying child support for a while, and from first time payers. The reality is that a custodial parent can spend the child support payments on almost anything they want, and there are no state or federal laws to adequately address how support is paid. Typically we get this question from a payer when they would like proof that child support is actually going to supporting the child’s well-being. But there is no law to provide this kind of proof. In the instances where a obligee believes that child support may not be being used to care for the child, it is important that you keep a record of child support payments that are easily trackable. This will allow for a smoother legal process, should the need arise.
This is why we recommend using SupportPay, where you can track, monitor and record all your child support payments. Because the state is not always able to track – and in some cases doesn’t track – the child support you’ve paid, we’ve made it easier than ever to make sure that you have a safe record of your payments.
To answer the question as best we know how about “what is child support”, the answer is that it is and should always be payments made to ensure that the child has the best quality of life possible. This is also why good co-parenting is so important. When parents can come together and have the same goal, even if they are divorced or separated, the child benefits. And if you’re interested in making sure you can have a civil relationship, we have a network of family legal advisers that can help.
To make sure that your child support process is easier, we recommend trying SupportPay, for free.