Firm Logo

Can I Spend Child Support On Non-Essentials For My Child?

The child support you receive can make the difference between you and your children being comfortable or hardly making ends meet. In some cases, you might continue to experience financial difficulties despite receiving regular child support. Like many parents in Pennsylvania, you want your children to have fun and build happy memories, in addition to having their basic needs met. You may wonder if you can use your child support for items that your ex-spouse might deem frivolous or unnecessary.

This raises the question of whether your child support spending can be controlled by your ex or family law court. Fortunately, as FindLaw explains, you have a wide range of freedom regarding your child support spending, and if your children’s needs are being met, nobody can tell you how to spend the money. You may choose to spend child support on essentials, such as clothing, food and school supplies. Child support can also be used to pay utilities or medical bills, or you may decide to put the money into savings for an emergency or your children’s college fund.

However, what if you want to use child support for things your ex or others might look upon as unnecessary? It is deemed acceptable and, in fact, essential for children’s emotional as well as physical needs to be taken care of. Therefore, you are within your rights to use child support on “fun” things such as gifts, movie tickets, restaurant meals or a family trip. If you are ensuring your children are well cared for, you need not fear anyone stepping in to control your child support spending. However, this information should not replace the advice of a lawyer.

For more information, contact Louis Wm. Martini, attorney at law.