A lot of people have an idea of what they think child support should cover. If asked, parents may say that child support should cover the essentials. They may cite clothing and food as two main necessities. While these are important for child support to cover, they are not the only things that child support covers.
How child support gets used can become such a divisive topic that one parent may demand receipts for how the other used his or her child support payment. What can child support be used for and can one parent ask for receipts?
What Child Support Covers
Child support does not solely cover food and housing. It covers a wide range of expenses. First, it covers basic expenses. Child support can also cover transportation, childcare, educational fees, college expenses, medical care, and more.
Raising a child can cost a lot of money. Healthcare and educational costs are only rising. Even with insurance, there may be costs outside of insurance that you have to pay for. You can use child support to pay any out of pocket medical costs.
What many people don’t realize is that you can also use child support for entertainment. For instance, if a child wants to go to the movies or wants a new video game, you can make these purchases with child support.
Why Receipts May Not Matter
In most states, one parent cannot demand to see receipts of how child support was used. There may be some exceptions to the rule if there is enough evidence that a child’s basic needs are not being met. Child support is considered a reimbursement. When one parent receives the support, he or she may have already paid the bills and purchased food. Child costs do not wait until the support payment comes in. So, if one parent already paid for the child’s expenses, then the payment may belong to the parent and hence he or she does not have to provide a receipt.
When it comes to child support, people don’t always realize how much can be covered. Due to this, it isn’t practical to demand receipts. In many cases, child support payments are reimbursements. If you are worried about having to present receipts for your child support payments or if you believe that the other parent of your child is misusing the funds, then it may be time to set up a consultation with a lawyer as soon as possible.