When parents divorce in New Jersey, they generally have to split up their parental rights and responsibilities. Each parent gets a certain amount of time with the children and a share of decision-making power. They may also have to arrange solutions for the financial support of their children.
It is quite common for the courts to order one parent to provide the other with regular child support payments. These payments help offset discrepancies in parental income or in the overall division of parenting time.
Can the parent who pays take steps to ensure that the recipient parent only uses child support for certain types of expenses?
The paying parent has little control
Raising children is unquestionably very expensive. Parents have to provide housing, food and clothing. They pay for equipment for extracurricular activities and enrichment experiences, such as summer camp.
Typically, the parent receiving child support can allocate those funds to whatever expenses they deem necessary. They may have already met the child’s expenses for the month when they receive the payment and might use it to replenish their own finances. They might purchase items that the other would find frivolous to give to the children.
Generally speaking, the recipient parent has no obligation to explain how they spent the funds or account for their financial activities in general. Paying parents do not have the right to limit the use of child support or make demands regarding how the other parents spend those funds.
Understanding the rules that govern child support can help limit the conflict between parents as they adjust to co-parenting. Child support payments can easily become a source of contention if parents have unrealistic expectations, such as controlling the use of funds.