Children deserve to have support from both of their parents, even if that support is only financial. This is why courts typically order one parent to pay child support. It is not a punishment for the paying parent; it is not a reward for the recipient parent.
Child support is a necessity: Your child shouldn't go without it
As a parent who has been struggling to obtain child support from your ex-spouse, it is understandable that you are annoyed and extremely frustrated with the system. Child support is there to provide your child with extra financial support. The idea is that the extra financial support provides your child with a home that is similar to a two-parent household, even though they primarily live with one parent over the other.
A court can enforce your child support order
Having enough money to eat, getting to wear new clothes to school and having a reasonable home to live in is what children deserve. Sometimes, their ability to have these simple things is limited because one parent won't pay support.
Why is child support required in shared-custody scenarios?
Child support is important in situations where parents share custody and in situations where one has limited visitation. While every situation is slightly different, child support is typically provided regardless of the amount of time the parents share with the child or children. Even if both parents share custody evenly, support can still be sought.
Can you seek retroactive child support?
For a long time, your ex-spouse failed to pay any child support. Now that your child is older, the payments are finally being enforced. Your biggest issue with this is that your child has missed out on years of support from the other parent.
Is retroactive support always ordered in divorce cases?
Retroactive child support is when a parent files a request to obtain child support that should have been paid at a time when it wasn't. This is a huge benefit to children who perhaps have gone a long time without additional support from one parent or who need the additional support due to extraneous expenses.
Your child deserves support from both parents after divorce
Child support is an important factor in divorce cases, both during and after the case. It is important that children in divorced families receive the financial support they need to grow up in a secure environment.
Do people have to pay back missing child support?
If you have not paid child support or have not been receiving the child support you are supposed to get from the other parent, there is a way of collecting that money later on. It is known as back-paying support, and it's how children can eventually obtain compensation for child support they were supposed to get during their years growing up.
What should you know about child support as a single parent?
You're paying child support, so you should know much about how the process works. As a father, it's important that you know what you may have to pay for support or if it's due to you. It all depends on the circumstances of your child custody arrangement.
