Simple Tips To Avoid Arguments Or Lawsuits Over Child Support Payments
Most people who have been ordered to pay child support love their children and have the best intentions of making the payments. However, with time, some people find themselves making "simple" mistakes that ruin their relationships with the custodial parents. In extreme cases, the custodial parents even find it necessary to go back to court to force the payments. If you have been ordered to pay child support, here are a few simple tips that can help you to keep the peace:
Pay Everything
This is a simple yet powerful tip. For example, if your court-ordered payment is $1,962, don't round it down to $1,900. The moment you start cutting back on the payments a little is the moment you start causing problems with the other parent. What's more, those little cutbacks can add up to considerable funds if you keep at it for a long time. Moreover, if the other parent goes to court to accuse you of failing to pay child support, you will be treated just like any other defaulter.
Pay Money, Not Goods or Services
No family court will accept payments of goods or services as child support. Therefore, your offer to take the kids for an out-of-state vacation may be welcome by the other parent, but it isn't a child support payment. In the end, you will still have to pay monetary child support.
Pay On Time
Pay your child support payments on time, even if it means forgoing that vacation you have been planning for months. In fact, even if you don't have the money, borrow it somewhere and pay child support; you will have peace that way.
Don't Make Arbitrary Adjustments
Once the court has decided on the amount of child support for you to pay, that is what you have to pay until you can get the court to modify it. Don't become the judge and modify the payments, even if you have a genuine reason for doing so. For example, you might be tempted to lower the payments when you lose a job, or your spouse gets a better-paying job. Those are genuine reasons for child support modification, but the modification is for the family court to decide – and not you.
Hopefully, you won't have a problem paying child support for your loved ones. However, genuine problems sometimes crop up and make it difficult to make these payments. If you ever find yourself in such a situation, borrow a little money to settle the current payment and immediately consult a lawyer at a law firm like the Cragun Law Firm to help you get the court to modify the payments.