I am recently separated with 2 primary school aged children. My ex is paying child support. I am unable to get a clear info on what it doesn't pay for; i.e. can I ask for half child care, medical, extra activities, school camps, etc? He is currently refusing, and refuses to discuss it until the property settlement is settled.
VIC Separation - What Does Child Support Cover?
- Thread starter Nello
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Sophea
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Broadly speaking it covers food, housing, clothes, school costs and other activities. But as Rod has stated its based on what he can afford to give not actual expenses. Therefore, anything in addition to the awarded child support you would have to negotiate sharing costs with him.
The child support agency doesn't stipulate what CS is meant to 'cover', but basically it is a great big equation that is meant to try and equal out some of the disadvantage that might happen when relationships end. So the child support agency won't assist in collecting the costs of school camps uniforms or health funds...
There are some provisions to get an increase in child support under special circumstances, however, they are very much the exception, not the rule.
The short version is he has no financial obligation to pay for those things beyond the amount he is paying in child support.
Sadly, quite often when marriages end each person have substantially different expectations of how things are meant to happen... My ex used to provide me with receipts for everything - sunscreen, movie tickets, clothes etc and she'd provide me with a note with information about how she expected me to pay half of all those things.... So that was her expectation... I refused on the grounds I was paying child support and this caused lots and lots of conflict.
There are some provisions to get an increase in child support under special circumstances, however, they are very much the exception, not the rule.
The short version is he has no financial obligation to pay for those things beyond the amount he is paying in child support.
Sadly, quite often when marriages end each person have substantially different expectations of how things are meant to happen... My ex used to provide me with receipts for everything - sunscreen, movie tickets, clothes etc and she'd provide me with a note with information about how she expected me to pay half of all those things.... So that was her expectation... I refused on the grounds I was paying child support and this caused lots and lots of conflict.
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