A fair child support payment.?

Question

My boyfriend has a son from a previous relationship who is going to be three in January. They were never married and never went through court to determine child support payments. His ex-girlfriend has general custody of the child, so my boyfriend pays her a significant amount of money every single week. I think it's a ridiculous amount for a toddler, and I was wondering if there are people on here paying or receiving child support, and what you think a fair amount is for a child of his age. My boyfriend works hard but he is not filthy rich and this amount is equaling more than half of his paychecks at times. Please let me know your opinions and experience on this topic!

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far, it's been a big help. In response to someone who apparently thinks I am some sort of gold-digger... I care very much about his son, but I also know that his ex is a spoiled brat. She is engaged, makes a full income herself plus her fiances, gets free child care provided by her mother, and $170 a week from my boyfriend to help raise his son. On top of this, my bf spends every other night with his son plus every Saturday. He buys him toys, clothes, and necessities on top of his child support. We want to get married and have kids together soon, and we'll never be able to do so if 60% of his checks go to his ex. I don't feel that I am being selfish by asking about this, and I have no intention to let his son NOT be taken care of, but since I know he is, I think my bf's ex is being unreasonable with her demands. He's a great father, but she is stretching our finances too far.

Answer 1

depends on how much he earns and i would say 70 a weak would be fair. food, clothing, shoes, any medicine he may need

Answer 2

he should be paying no more than 25% of his gross income to her. If he has health insurance through work he should be providing it to his little one but not to the ex. If his pay should decrease for some reason so should the amount of the child support. This is how it is done in the legal system. Also he should be claiming the child on his income tax return. He should be paying her by check and not in cash so as to verify the money he is actually giving to her for child support. If this is a problem then he should contact the Department of Revenue. I don't know where you are located but I have alot of information on this particular topic and I would be happy to help you in any way. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions you may have and I will help.

Answer 3

First of all please pass along to your boyfriend from me that I am very proud of him. It is very rare indeed to see this kind of stellar example being set. With that said, I would like to ask you... why do you care about this amount? The impression that I am getting is that you believe he is giving too much, am I right? Please allow me to illuminate you with some staggering numbers on raising a child. The average cost of raising a child in today's economy will cost the parents from the time of birth till age 18 $630,000. Now factor in college, cars, and those "extras". If this is hard to believe, or if you think that baby's and toddlers are less expensive. Look at the cost o f diapers, clothing. And the clothing gets replaced very frequently, because of how fast they grow. In the state of Wisconsin, child support is figured on a percentage, and that percentage is 17% of your gross. And that is for only one child. I hope that this helps you.

Answer 4

The amount of child support that a parent pays depends on both parents finances and the state requirements. The courts have to take in consideration how much both parties pay out for living expenses and such. But on a personal note I feel $100 weekly if fair..BUT thats me.

Answer 5

This is all based on father and mother's income and how much each pay for medical/dental/vision and child care and things like that. I have gone through court and my son's "father" owes me over $14k so he use to pay me $397.81 monthly based off of him making $9 per hour and me making $600 bi-weekly, but i just had our case review for modification because he does not want to help with medical/dental/vision or child care, so he now makes $16 per hour and i make $13 per hour and i won the case so he now has to pay $642 monthly!! he does not want anything to do with "our" son so that is also why i got so much...so like i said it would depend on your State, his and the mothers income, child care expenses, and insurance expenses and how often he has visitaions!! hope this helps!! oh and i've been going through courts since my son was a year, but they did not locate him till my son was 2 1/2 and he is now 8 years old!!

Answer 6

I pay $302 per month for a 16 month old which is 17.6% of my monthly disability income. The first couple of child support payments went to reimburse the state for the welfare my wife received as she waited for the final number to be determined.

Each state has child support guidelines. If one knows the income, one can calculate the support obligation based on the state's applicable law. If your bf thinks the amount is too much, he can prove himself the father and petition the court for a lower child support payment based on the guidelines rather than taking her word.

http://www.supportguidelines.com has links and articles related to your topic. Good luck.

Answer 7

My husband has to pay a LARGE amount of child support for his 3 year old daughter whenever he had no legal custody rights to his daughter he paid $200.00 dollars less than he has to pay now that he has joint custody!! that makes no sence to me and it is way more than enough to raise 1 child! but shes pregnant by a new bf so im sure my husband and i are going to be supporting their child too, whenever its supposed to be giong to my step daughter, we bought his daughter a crib and clothes and toys and now their baby on the way is going to be usuing the crib and etc..thats really nice of us dont you think!! I think a fair amount for a child under 5 would be 250 per month depending who is paying for health insurance and if the child goes to daycare!

Answer 8

First on the agenda is proof of paternity. Then there's usually a form to establish based on income. Our local court house has this. Perhaps you can check in your area. And it's monthly, not weekly. I'm sure he feels a strong need to take care of financial responsibility. That's rare, but GOOD!

Answer 9

I think that the amount of child support is ridiculous. How can you live when all of your money is paying her bills. A child that age does not need that much money. I would tell him to check on getting his case reevaluated.

Answer 10

I pay 380 dollars per month times 2 or 760 for 2 children if that helps.

Answer 11

It is none of your business to be saying anything. That baby deserves much more. Stop getting in business that does not concern you. What are you mad because the baby is taking all his money instead of you.