The new child support law that went into effect in August 2018 addresses basic child support, child care support and medical support, just like the previous law did. The new law also is silent about many of the children’s expenses – such as extracurricular costs – just like the previous law was.
The reason is simple. The child support statute provides for a monthly sum to be paid from one parent to the other. It contemplates that the children’s day-to-day living expenses will be properly covered by the parents once the monthly support obligation has been conveyed by the obligor parent to recipient parent. But what if they aren’t?
The new law calculates child support such that the more parenting time an obligor parent has, the less that parent pays to the other parent. So it stands to reason that the more parenting time an obligor parent has, the more that parent pays the kids’ day-to-day expenses in real time.
If the obligor has no parenting time, then there is no parenting expense adjustment downward with the expectation that the obligor parent covers other expenses. But if the obligor has parenting time, and therefore there is a parenting expense downward, the parents should probably have a mutual understanding and expectation regarding what contributions the obligor parent will make to day-to-day expenses, such as clothing, school lunches, and cell phones.