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Can my ex make me pay for our child's college education? Would he/she have to pay as well?
Some states allow for "child support" to continue AFTER a "child" is 18 and even living away from home.
Some states allow for "child support" to continue AFTER a "child" is 18 and even living away from home.
This comes in the form of post-secondary support for college. This page discusses which States permit post-secondary and post-majority support orders: Post-Majority Child Support Laws.
Family courts have been inconsistent as to whether or not to require custodial parents to bear some of the financial burden and contribute to the post-secondary support for college. In many cases they have ruled that the custodial parent did not have to share the costs, or was allowed to pay a reduced amount compared to the non-custodial parent.
My employer garnished my paycheck but hasn't sent the money to the Child Support Office. Is there anything I can do?
Yes. Almost all States have statutes that provide penalties for employers who fail to comply with the laws that govern the handling and transfer of support garnishments. Employers can be fined and may be subject to other civil remedies as well.
Check your State Statutes to find out what provisions your State has enacted that apply to employers.
Can I make my support payments directly to my ex? Should I?
Generally speaking, you should not make support payments directly to the custodial parent unless your Divorce Decree specifies that you do so.
Some Support Enforcement offices (or equivalent local authority) will not recognize payments made directly to the non-custodial parent, and will therefore not credit or apply the direct payments to the support obligation, causing an erroneous (false) arrears amount to be listed.
The courts have repeatedly upheld this position, oftentimes ruling that these payments are to be considered "gifts", separate from the mandated support payments.
Our suggestion is to arrange your support to be paid through the local Support Enforcement office, or by wage garnishment. The advantage to wage garnishment is that once the money is deducted from your paycheck, you generally bear no further responsibility for it. It is up to the employer from that point on to ensure that the money is transferred in a timely and proper manner.
How can I keep track of support payments?
One good way to keep track of child support payments is with the Parenting Time Tracker, which includes a Support Tracker module. The Support Tracker can be used to keep a record of payments made or received, so you can easily compare your totals to the figures the Support Enforcement office has.
One good way to keep track of child support payments is with the Parenting Time Tracker, which includes a Support Tracker module. The Support Tracker can be used to keep a record of payments made or received, so you can easily compare your totals to the figures the Support Enforcement office has.
Are they allowed include my new spouse's income when setting child support?
In general, a new or subsequent spouse's income is not supposed to be included in figuring child support calculations. Doing so will almost always raise the support amount for the non-custodial parent. Even though it's not supposed to be included, judges and attorneys will often attempt to add it in one way or another.
It's not uncommon for your spouse's financial data to be requested by either the court or opposing counsel as part of a child support modification. Typically they'll want you to provide your spouse's tax returns, bank statements, and pay stubs, although often just the income tax return will be enough for them to draw a figure from.
You can "black out" portions of income tax forms and other joint financial statements to prevent release of your spouse's wage information, but it's difficult to prevent your ex (or their attorney) from obtaining it- if they want it badly enough, they'll subpoena the records from you and/or your spouse.