Child support & daycare

My ex-wife has sole custody of our 2 year old son, I pay for the regular
support, but she wants me to pay for half of the daycare costs. Is this
right? Do I have to pay for half?

JKup...

by the way, I'm in Ontario.

Zipadee...

As others have said, if the court order doesn't say so, you don't
HAVE to. Do you actually have a court order or are you still in
the process of working on the details?

In some states they may routinely include a provision
about day care costs in the child support order.

I'm divorced and receive child support. My ex did not pay a portion of
day care costs (back when our kids had those costs) nor did I ask him
to.

We don't know if it's a reasonable request from your ex-wife asking
for the additional money - you can judge that. Since your son is young,
presumably he's been in day care all along so this isn't a new cost and
might have been taken into account during the divorce - was it? Or did
she just start working in which case neither her salary nor day care
costs was taken into account when setting child support so it would
seem like additional payment from you shouldn't be necessary. But we
don't know the details so we can't necessarily say if it's reasonable.

Jeff...

I agree with the others. Consult your lawyer.

But think of your son's best interest, which probably includes helping out
with the daycare.

Your son's interest and welfare is the bottom line.

David Roman...

Note: I have never been divorced or been in a court room in my life.

That said, I would think that if a court settled on a monthy child
support payment for you to pay that all variables, including daycare
costs, would have been a part of determining that number. I think that
daycare costs should fall outside of the spectrum of required child
support and I don't think you have to pay for half.

Now, if you and your wife are on amicable terms then perhaps you guys
can work something out if she needs help raising your son but on the
surface it doesn't appear that way considering she has sole custody.
Courts order sole custody and child support payments to help the mother
so I believe the onus is on her to make it work. I'm guessing she
initiated this divorce. If that's the case to me she's pretty much
saying "I don't need you anymore." If she left you thinking things
would be better without you then she needs to stop pretending like
she's still married to you and stop depending on you for support.

Nan...

If it's not in the court order, then you don't have to. Did your
lawyers include daycare as an expense when they figured the support
order?

mbilling...

My understanding is that in many US states (the OP didn't say where
he is from), child support is calculated as a percentage of the
non-custodial parent's salary, rather than the actual expenses
needed for the child. The custodial parent decides how the money
is spent.

OP, is the the case in your situation?

Btw, it would be kind and friendly if you did help her out with
whatever you could. After all, she's taking care of your child and
needs to work in order to do so, just like you'd have to.

Tori M...

From what I understand about this is you shouldnt pay anything you dont have
a court order to pay or ask your lawyer about anyway. It would be nice if
you did willingly but if you stopped because you couldnt afford it and she
took you to court they could look back and see you paid it willingly before
and make you continue.