Child Support and clothing

V

Veryconfused

New member
Hello all,
I currently pay child support (3 boys), they live with me 50%.

Who's responsible for purchasing coats, shoes, boots and back to school supplies, etc?

Thank you in advance.
 
You pay full support or offset?

If you pay full support, this covers clothing and day to day items such as school supplies. If you pay offset then you each pay to provide for your own homes. Things like school supplies can be split.
 
Full child support is you paying her the table guideline amount based on your income alone, which would typically be applied if she were unemployed or otherwise had no income or if she had the kids more than 60 percent of the time.

Offset is determined by calculating how much each of you would pay the other if the other had the kids more than 60 percent of the time. The person with the higher income pays the other the difference.

Example:

Parent A pays CS amount: $1000
Parent B pays CS amount: $600

Parent A pays parent B the difference, $400.
 
Ah, we used the my support calculator (online) imputing the details of salaries and kids (age and 50/50 living arrangements)

Would that be my offset?
 
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If you are using both her income and yours to calculate the support amounts, then you are probably using offset (or a version of offset). Usually in offset situations each parent buys the items the child needs in his/her home (so you each buy some clothes, toiletries, etc). Big-ticket items like new winter coats and boots usually get split according to the income ratio (66%/33% in your case). Same with school supplies. However, this is not written in stone and different parents have different arrangements.

Long story short: if you are paying offset and kids are living half time with you, your ex should not be responsible for all the back-to-school costs - you should share them in some form.
 
clothing - everybody pays for a wardrobe at their home
school supplies split the cost 50/50 (it is not a special expense)
 
Link is correct you are already paying support to equalize day to day. School supplies are day to day so it's 50\50. Extraordinary is above and beyond day to day.
 
It varies. My separation agreement says that ex and I split school costs and big clothing expenditures (over $100) according to income ratio (which means that I pay more than half the costs, as my income is higher). There are many ways to work it out - the point is that in an offset situation, you can't assume that everything is covered by child support.
 
Child Support and clothing

stripes said:
It varies. My separation agreement says that ex and I split school costs and big clothing expenditures (over $100) according to income ratio (which means that I pay more than half the costs, as my income is higher). There are many ways to work it out - the point is that in an offset situation, you can't assume that everything is covered by child support.
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I pay full child support and I still pay for clothing for child to have at my residence, purchase shoes, boots, and back to school items.

Of course, the custodial parent should pay but because I was asked to and had no choice by other parent, I pay and purchase the items, keep receipts and will use that in my claims against offset support.

In your case , by stuff for your kid to have at your house and buy back to school stuff. If it's offset then You're both paying child support. Don't buy clothes for her for moms house. That's not your responsibility. Gifts and presents are different story, you could buy those and let child take them where she wants them.


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If it is offset than you are both responsible for these expenses. You need to figure out a way to split them. People have different ways to do it. We split 'big ticket items' according to income, usually coats and boots, but there are few because we get so many hand me downs. Over the years we have learned to not be petty about small stuff.
 
i beg to differ with stripes and ele110.

Stripes has a seperation agreemnt that specifically stipulates something so that is an exception.

REGULAR, non-special expenses are covered by child support. It is only SPECIAL or daycare expenses which are split proportionately. If EVERY kids or almost EVERY kid needs something it is 50/50 by default.

I am basing this on Quebec Law but I tihnk it should be the same everywhere/
 
Child Support and clothing

Links17 said:
i beg to differ with stripes and ele110.

Stripes has a seperation agreemnt that specifically stipulates something so that is an exception.

REGULAR, non-special expenses are covered by child support. It is only SPECIAL or daycare expenses which are split proportionately. If EVERY kids or almost EVERY kid needs something it is 50/50 by default.

I am basing this on Quebec Law but I tihnk it should be the same everywhere/
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I think child support can be compared to welfare. A payment for basic necessities of life, I.e., shelter, food, clothes, etc. It most certainly isn't a cash for life lottery ticket to the parent with primary care or lower income and We all know it can be especially when you're the one purchasing the clothing while the other parent is in "poverty" on welfare and needs more child support meanwhile she's out tanning and purchasing tattoos.






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OK....here is another crazy idea. How about people that have 50-50 just devise a simple system where clothes that comes with kid(s) just goes back in a big ziploc during exchange?

This past week, our son was attending a church function where the ex goes, I told her after to just keep the nice suit and shoes there for future events, as he already has another suit at my place. We have 50-50 parenting and I pay disparity in income CS
 
trinton said:
In your case , by stuff for your kid to have at your house and buy back to school stuff. If it's offset then You're both paying child support. Don't buy clothes for her for moms house. That's not your responsibility. Gifts and presents are different story, you could buy those and let child take them where she wants them.
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blinkandimgone said:
hopefull said:
OK....here is another crazy idea. How about people that have 50-50 just devise a simple system where clothes that comes with kid(s) just goes back in a big ziploc during exchange?

This past week, our son was attending a church function where the ex goes, I told her after to just keep the nice suit and shoes there for future events, as he already has another suit at my place. We have 50-50 parenting and I pay disparity in income CS
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Because not every party is reasonable or cooperative.
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My kids bring stuff to their dad's house, and it rarely comes back to me unless it is the clothing they are wearing. Then later they want to play with it at my house, and can't find it. I tell them to bring it back from their dad's and hear things like 'he threw it out' or 'it's lost.'

I now try to keep the stuff they bring over there to a minimum. It's not that their dad is even unreasonable or uncooperative; he's just cheap, lazy and disorganized. Sometimes you just have to adapt to the person you are coparenting with.
 
Is there an exchange bag (not kids school bags)? If there is one, then stuff goes in that and in our case the parent doing the exchange drops the bag off at the after school place for the other parent.

One person needs to initiate a working system, and soon enough the other will get onboard. I also introduced a message book (black book) that goes in the bag with notes on things the other parent needs to know from the week. Every is dated for records sake

Yes, the odd toys will end up here and there, but as long as the kids are using it, that's all that matters.

Rioe said:
My kids bring stuff to their dad's house, and it rarely comes back to me unless it is the clothing they are wearing. Then later they want to play with it at my house, and can't find it. I tell them to bring it back from their dad's and hear things like 'he threw it out' or 'it's lost.'

I now try to keep the stuff they bring over there to a minimum. It's not that their dad is even unreasonable or uncooperative; he's just cheap, lazy and disorganized. Sometimes you just have to adapt to the person you are coparenting with.
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I find what works best is for the child wear the clothes they arrived in, change and wash them at the end of the day and put them back on the child and return when they leave - they use your clothes while staying over. In the rare event that the child really likes a cloth at your house or has to take back an extra jacket or w.e, let the child take it along with the clothes they came in. A lot of the times you will never see them again, but your child will remember who was being child focused and reasonable and who wasn't. I hope.
 
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hopefull said:
OK....here is another crazy idea. How about people that have 50-50 just devise a simple system where clothes that comes with kid(s) just goes back in a big ziploc during exchange?
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While we are at it, we can probably do away with the entire family court system. Instead of spending tens of thousands of dollars on lawyers, people could just devise a simple way of splitting their assets and their time with the children.
 
I have that situation as well and often times the nice clothes that the kids left my house with last week disappear and not so nice clothes seem to come back a week later . Also my kids nice clothes ( that I purchased for them) also seem to then be worn by the children of the guy that my ex lives with now .

I know it sounds petty but kids name brand clothes now are very expensive and it sucks when you don't get to see them in that great jersey or hoodie that they wanted so bad because it disappears right away .

But hey at least I am able to get them the clothes that they want. Some kids don't .
 
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