Facts About Child Support

Child support is meant to provide adequate financial assistance when a parent no longer lives full time in the home. These orders may cover medical care, extracurricular activities, or education as well as the child’s basic needs. You may have heard about this issue primarily in terms of battles between disputing ex-spouses; this angle is typically the focus of news stories about child support, but the facts often become skewed through people’s perceptions of these stories. Here are some facts about child support:

1. Almost a third of custodial parents never receive a dime in payments for their children’s needs, even when they have an established court order.

Unfortunately, there is sometimes a perception that noncustodial parents are living a life of luxury at the expense of the children’s other parent. In most instances, this is not the case. On average, child support payments amount to about $430 per month.

2. Men are not the only ones who pay for their children’s support.

While most stories on this topic focus on fathers, women make up about 15% of the total number of parents who are ordered to provide for their children’s financial needs.

3. Child support and visitation are separate legal issues.

These payments are not the noncustodial parent’s “ticket” to visitation; conversely, it is not legal to cut off support payments because the custodial parent makes it difficult to see the child.

4. Child support is governed by tax and bankruptcy law.

You may not discharge these payments in bankruptcy, and while they are tax-free for the custodial parent, the noncustodial parent may not use them as a tax deduction.

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