In the State of Georgia Does a Payor of Child Support Need to Also Pay for Extra-curricular Expenses?
In this article I will be discussing the child support topic of, does the payor of child support also have to pay for the regular and usual extracurricular expenses of their children?
One of the most common misconception that I come across in child support matters is that parties assume that in addition to paying child support, that a party is also responsible for paying for the children’s extra-curricular expenses. This is not true. The amount of child support that is calculated (called the “presumptive” amount of support) already includes within it an amount sufficient to cover the usual cost of extra-curricular expenses. If you agree to pay extracurricular expenses in addition to regular child support, you will be paying more child support than the law requires.
In practice, how this usually works out, is that child support is set, and the amount of child support set incorporates within it healthcare expenses, and work or education related child-care expenses (which are required by statute). However, then the parties start talking about how to divide up extracurricular expenses for the children. But what the parties and their attorneys don’t tell you (or don’t know) is that there is no requirement under the law for the paying party to pay for extracurricular expenses. In fact, agreeing to pay for your children’s extracurricular expenses is double paying.
This is because the amount of child support, that is calculated on the child support worksheets, already includes an allowance for the usual an ordinary extracurricular expense of the children. So your child support amount already includes money that anticipates the children will have extracurricular activities to pay for. So agreeing to pay for them in addition to child support is double paying. It is only if the children have an extraordinary amount of extracurricular expenses (say for example they go to Nick Bollettieri tennis camp, or ski-camp or such) that any amount of extracurricular expense should even be considered when determining child support.
Parties are free to always pay more child support than the law requires, but if you agree to do so, just do so with full knowledge, that if you are the paying party, you do not have to pay for the children’s extracurricular expenses on top of child support. If you wish to do so, that is a nice thing to do, but it is not required. So don’t agree to do it in a settlement agreement, and don’t allow a court to mistakenly incorporate it in a court order. This is a mistake that is all too often made, and once made, it is difficult to unmake the mistake.
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Scott Shaw is founder and principle of Shaw Law Firm LLC, founded in 1995 and dedicated solely to divorce, family law and child custody matters that must be addressed and decided in the state of Georgia. Shaw Law Firm serves the greater Metro Atlanta area, particularly the counties of Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, Cherokee, Forsyth, Paulding, Henry, Fayette, Coweta, Newton, Walton, Bartow and Douglas. Schedule a consultation today at 770-594-8309.