Parents have to deal with a lot of stress when they are going through a divorce. They have to worry about how the child will take it and whether the end of their marriage might affect the child negatively. So, to ensure the child’s life does not change too drastically, parents have to ensure that they team up to support the child financially.
But how well they do this depends on factors such as where the parents live and other circumstances.
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How Much Is A Divorce With A Child In Texas?
The most important factor when ending a marriage without children is property division. But when a child is involved, the divorce court makes sure that the best interests of the child are protected. The law expects both parents to cooperate in supporting the child until the child becomes an adult.
In the divorce decree, there are conditions on the amount the non-custodial parent should pay for child support and visitation schedules. There are also details about how the marital property should be divided, which is relevant because it determines the parent that gets to keep the marital home where the child will be raised.
It also establishes whether alimony is necessary and how the community debts will be divided between the parents. Divorce with children is tough because you have to care about your own personal interests and the interests of your family which is now breaking apart.
Child Support Expenses List
During the divorce process, parents have to continue supporting the child. That includes covering basic needs such as food and clothing or other expenses. The following are some of the child-rearing expenses you should expect:
- Daily necessities: Covering a child’s basic needs shields your child from any economic impact caused by the divorce. That means that the non-custodial parent will have to assist the custodial parent to ensure that the child does not experience any drastic change in the standard of living they enjoyed when the marriage was intact.
- Extra expenses: These are expenses that are not covered by child support. They include school excursions, music lessons, golf lessons, and so on. Large expenses such as buying a car for your teenage child are not
- Post-minority support: In most cases, a parent can file a petition to stop paying child support when the child reaches 18 years of age or finishes high school. But some states expect the parent to continue providing support to cover college expenses.
- Extracurricular activities: These are activities that are separate from the basic child support calculation. The court includes things like health insurance, child care, and education expenses in their child support calculations. But parents may agree to share the cost for extracurricular activities such as sports, or music.
Child Support Disputes
Parents often disagree on the expenses that the child support payments should cover. The court may intervene and make the parents share the cost of extra expenses. Factors that courts consider in this situation include the income of each parent and the parent that wants the child to be involved in that extra-curricular activity.
The court will only take the issue seriously if the child has participated in said activity in the past and the reasons each parent supports or opposes that activity.