In New York State, there are a number of mandatory add-ons to the Child Support payment made by the non-custodial parent. Those mandatory add-ons do not include extracurricular expenses. The mandatory add-ons are health insurance premiums, unreimbursed medical and dental expenses, and day care expenses. Some families have significant additional expenses for extracurricular activities for the children. Under the existing New York Child Support Standards Act, neither parent is mandated to pay for those expense, or to sign the children up for those extracurricular activities.
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In general, the custodial parent who is receiving support will be the parent who is paying for those expenses. However, we also have many cases where the non-custodial parents agrees to pay a proportion of those expenses. That parent knows or understands that the custodial parent will not be able to keep the children in those particular extracurricular activities, if they do not assist with the cost of those activities. If it is important to that parent or both parents, they should find a way to share in the cost of those expenses.
This informational blog post was provided by Jean Mahserjian, an experienced New York Child Support Attorney.
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