What To Do About Child Support Misuse

It’s an unfortunate truth child support is often misused by the people who accept or demand it. If you suspect your ex is taking your money and spending it on things other than your child’s health and welfare, here are just a few ways to investigate your suspicions.

Understand the Basics

The first thing you should know is it’s very difficult to prove a misuse of child support payments. There are no laws saying your ex has to spend X amount of dollars on diapers and onesies each month.

In addition, you can’t force your ex to buy child-related things. Even if you win your case, it’s important to understand you won’t get to dictate how your money is spent.

Research Your State Laws

If you suspect your ex is squandering your child support payments, your best bet is getting your payments reduced so they have less to waste. Different states have different formulas for how child support is calculated.

Do some research into the factors that make up their equations. Your payment amount might be based off things like income, visitation and estimated living estimates.

It helps to throw doubt on one or more of them.

Document Any Signs of Trouble

Child abuse is a very serious claim to make in a court of law. However, if your little one shows signs of neglect, you might have a case for the misuse of your child support payments.

If they aren’t getting the food, clothing and shelter that should be covered by your payments, you’ll have a better chance of proving their other parent is being irresponsible with your money.

Along with the serious aspect of this claim, you have to understand the consequences of claiming negligence.

This could be you, another relative or whoever else the court deems appropriate to take care of the child. This would mean having your child uprooted and facing some instability in his or her life.

Of course, if negligence is really going on, then you should absolutely not hesitate to act on your child’s behalf.

Talk to a Lawyer

A good family law attorney will listen to your story and decide whether or not you do have a case. If necessary, they’ll get the ball rolling with any legal action that needs to be taken against your ex.

Since child support law is so vague and undefined, it can be a big boon to your case to have legal experts on your side. Starting out, however, you should not expect such an issue to be resolved immediately.

It can take months, if not years to come to a reasonable conclusions. Just remember it’s all about what’s truly in the best interest of your child.

These are just a few actions to take if you suspect your misuse of your child support payments. It’s your duty as a parent to make sure your money is going towards your child’s health and welfare. Don’t delay if you have suspicions or concerns about their welfare.

About the author

Hannah Whittenly is a freelance writer and full-time mother from Sacramento, CA. Her two boys keep her very busy, and they are her inspiration for much of her writing. Her favorite subjects to write about are family and business.

Many divorcing couples are looking for ways to lower the emotional trauma for their children as much as they can. Heated arguments and accusations, bitter custody battles, fights over finances can completely shatter families and scar children psychologically for the rest of their lives. Get five tips that may help divorced couples ease some of their wounds and make a more collaborative and pain-free child support plan.

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