After a divorce, finances may get tight. You have to run the same household on half the budget. If you have physical custody of your children for the majority of the time, this makes things even tougher, but that is why the court awarded you child support.
It is common for parents who receive support to still need to come up with extra money for their children, especially when it comes to extracurricular activities. You may worry about how you will afford riding lessons for your daughter or all the costs associated with martial arts for your son. You may want to ask the other parent for help, but he or she may not want to give you extra money.
Child support can help
The good news is that if you know about expenses for extracurricular activities when you get your child support order, the Georgia General Assembly explains, the court can use those expenses when figuring the amount of support. What this means is that you can tell the judge about regular extracurricular expenses and he or she will figure those into the formula when determining your child support award.
This is a deviation allowed by law for the court. Generally, the court must follow the child support guidelines, but when there are extra expenses or special situations, the court can make its own determination outside of the regular guidelines.
If you have already gotten your order, you may be able to request a modification. This may happen if you received your order when your children were little and extracurricular activities are now coming up as they get older.
Your children should not have to go without if there is a way to provide the funding they need for their activities. If you cannot afford them and the other parent will not help pay, then your answer may be to get such activities covered under child support.
