Question:
My ex removed our child from daycare because of fear of safety during the pandemic. Should I get a credit because part of my child benefit is intended for the cost of daycare?
Reply:
I do not practice law in your state. As a result, I cannot tell you about the specific laws of your state, but I can give you general tips for this type of problem.
Unfortunately, the short answer to that question is that it matters. The reason for this is how your support order is written. In my state, all daycare expenses are segregated from the “base” support order. If your state aggregates all child child support, it is difficult to determine what portion of the child support will be considered for daycare costs.
If you cannot determine what portion of the support is for daycare, it is difficult to determine if you were eligible for credit. Another consideration is whether or not to use private childcare such as a babysitter. In this case, daycare costs could be passed on to paying for a babysitter.
However, if you can easily determine the cost of the daycare, you should generally get credit for these payments when the daycare is not in use. That being said, all support requests generally remain at the current level unless and until a party to the action submits a request to change support. The court will burden the person seeking a change to the support ordinance to take the positive steps to file the change with the court.
Unless and until no change has been submitted, as mentioned above, the current support order with the costs for the daycare center remains. In most countries, changes to a support order will not take effect until the submission date on which a change is requested. Therefore, if you want to address this issue, don’t wait too long to petition the court.
Also, please note that some courts do not change the amount or duration of the assistance if the change is found to be a temporary circumstance.
For example, there is case law that says that a 20 month decrease in income was only temporary. Therefore a reduction in support was not justified. Since the pandemic is believed to be an event of limited duration, the court could view the change in daycare costs as a temporary change and not justify a change in the support regulation.
Another alternative is to try privately to privately negotiate a temporary reduction in support. If you and the other party can enter into a private agreement, a provision may be presented to the court, preferably drawn up by a lawyer, containing the terms of the fixed-term agreement.
Provisions to change the support / suspension of daycare payments must be submitted to the court. Otherwise, the original support order will remain in full force and effect and the court will not be aware that the terms have been changed.
Contact Cordell & Cordell to arrange an initial consultation to discuss male divorce rights with a Cordell & Cordell attorney including Pennsylvania divorce attorney Caroline Thompson.
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Shawn Garrison
Shawn Garrison is an online editor for Lexicon and focuses on issues related to the legal services of clients Cordell & Cordell and Cordell & Cordell UK. He has written countless articles addressing the unique custody and divorce problems of men and fathers. Through his work on CordellCordell.com, CordellCordell.co.uk and DadsDivorce.com, Mr. Garrison has become an authority on the complexities of the legal practice and was the content creator for the YouTube series “Dad’s Divorce Live” and other videos on the YouTube channels Dad’s Divorce and Cordell & Cordell. Mr. Garrison has managed these clients’ websites and promoted the creation of several of their roles, including the Cordell & Cordell lawyer and office pages, Dad’s divorce newsletter, and the Cordell & Cordell newsletter.
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