What Expenses Do Divorced Parents Usually Share?
A divorce divides the assets and determines who is responsible for the care of the children. The noncustodial parent is assigned a monthly amount to pay in child support each month. The child support usually only covers the cost of food and shelter; it may not include other expenses. The divorce decree likely addresses additional expenses and what each person is responsible for covering.
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Extracurricular Activities
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Depending on the divorce decree, extracurricular activities -- such as piano lessons, sports activities or dance lessons -- may not be part of the child support agreement. Parents often split these costs evenly, or one parent can shoulder more of the cost because she is in a better financial situation than her spouse. If both parents are expected to help contribute to these costs, both parents should help choose the activities and the amount each is willing to spend to facilitate them.
Childcare and Private School Expenses
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Childcare costs frequently go up after a divorce because one spouse had been staying home with the kids during the day or was able to pick them up after school. This cost is not always covered in the child support edict, or the amount of child support monthly is reduced once the children are all in school. If this is the case, both parents should help cover the costs of daycare during the summer. Additionally, if both parents want the children to attend a private school, parents should split tuition costs.
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Medical Costs
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The divorce decree makes one parent responsible for the covering health insurance for the children. Often when this happens, the other parent pays for deductibles and co-payments for the children. However, if there is an extremely expensive illness such as cancer or an emergency surgery, both parents need to split the costs of the medical care. The divorce settlement should outline how you handle this. However, if you have an exceptional event, revisit this division in the future.
College Costs
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Many parents split the costs of sending their children to college. Often a parent will give the same monthly amount directly to the child as he was paying in child support. There are specific tax laws for maximum contributions to a 529 Savings account. If both parents want to contribute to the account, they will need to communicate about how much each person contributes annually. Discuss college savings as part of the divorce settlement
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References
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