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Child support ensures your children can grow up financially supported without parents being together. Usually, the non-custodial parent is responsible for making child support payments.
By making child support payments, you’re ensuring the following:
My child receives its basic needs - food, clothes, shelter. These are all things imperative to giving your child a healthy environment to grow up in. By providing child support payments, your financial contribution will go towards these basic necessities.
Preventing future complications - by having a child support agreement signed by the court, you’re preventing future issues that may arise when it comes to caring for your child with your ex. The agreement should lay out an appropriate amount of money required by you to care for your child. However, circumstances can change, and if this happens, you would want to get with your lawyer or mediator to make changes to the child support agreement right away.
Aiding your child’s future - sometimes child support payments will also partially go towards your child’s future funding - whether that be for potential unexpected medical bills or future schooling such as college or trade school. By having money set aside for emergencies and your child’s future ambitions, you’re showing them you’re invested in them no matter what.
There are some situations where a non-custodial parent is justified in not making child support payments. Those could include:
Your child “aging” out - if your child is no longer considered a minor, you may not have to make any more child support payments. However, this usually does not include if the child is still in high school or has special needs.
Your child is legally emancipated - when a child does this, the law recognizes the child as someone who is self-supporting. Therefore, you may not be required to continue to pay child support if your child does this.
You no longer have custodial rights of the child - if your child is legally adopted by someone else, or your parental rights are terminated through another legal process, you most likely will not have to continue making child support payments.
Child support scenarios are different for every family. If you have questions about whether you’re legally obligated to pay child support, that’s when you’ll want an attorney to assist. Call Peak Mediation today to learn more about how our office can help.