When you receive your child support payment each month, do you stress over how to spend the money? Must you scrupulously segregate it from your earnings or other sources of income? Must you keep track of exactly what you spend it on?
According to FindLaw, you have considerable flexibility when it comes to using child support money for its intended purpose, i.e., to give your children a better chance of living the lifestyle they did prior to your divorce.
Household expenses
Since your children live with you, you have every right to spend child support money on their portion of your household expenses. For instance, if you have two children, you can legitimately use child support money to pay for two-thirds of such things as the following:
- Mortgage or rent payment
- Homeowner’s or renter’s insurance premium
- Utility bills
- Groceries
- Car payment and insurance premium
- Home and car maintenance and repairs
- Phone and internet service
School expenses
Naturally, your child support money can go for anything and everything related to your children’s schooling, including the following:
- Tuition
- Books and supplies
- Computers and cellphones
- Uniforms or other clothing and shoes
- Activity fees
- Extracurricular sports and clubs
- Before- or after-school daycare
Entertainment expenses
Finally, spending some of your child support money on your children’s entertainment represents a perfectly legitimate use of it. So feel free to allow them an occasional movie, restaurant meal or day at an amusement or water park. You can likewise spend this money on summer camps and vacations.
The bottom line is, you can legitimately spend child support money on anything that benefits your children.