As a parent, you may have the natural instinct to provide your child with every opportunity or resource the world has to offer. You may believe your child should not be deprived of these possibilities simply because their parents are splitting up. But, after your divorce, you may not have the financial capacity to fund these experiences alone. This is why you may want the New Jersey family court to order your soon-to-be former spouse to be held financially obligated to these future expenses, as well. If this is your intention and plan, then please continue reading to learn whether the court will grant support for extraordinary expenses and how an experienced Morristown child support lawyer at Graves Andrews, LLC can help you fight for this coverage.
Will the New Jersey family court grant child support for extraordinary expenses?
Based on the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines, the family court may only consider basic coverage in a child support order. For one, the court may consider your child’s future high school or college costs as predictable and reasonable. However, they may look into factors such as both parents’ wages and earning capacity to determine tuition and associated expense caps. With that being said, it may be considered an extraordinary expense if you send your child to a private university, more expensive than what you and their other parent can reasonably afford, when they received a scholarship to attend a state college, for example.
On a similar note, basic health coverage is part of a standard child support order. So your former spouse may be expected to contribute to the out-of-pocket expenses for your child’s routine, semi-annual dental checkups. Although, for something cosmetic like braces, the court may not necessarily incorporate this into the support plan. The same goes for extracurricular activities like sports. You may wish to place your child in a particularly expensive sport (i.e., a club, traveling hockey team) when there are other, more accessible options available (i.e., a recreational basketball team). If so, the court may not expect your former spouse to pay additional fees in their monthly support payments.
How can I fight for a future modification in a support order to include extraordinary expenses?
You may believe that your child should not get the short end of the stick just because of your divorce from their other parent. And so, after receiving your initial support order, you may petition for a post-judgment modification with the New Jersey family court. Here, you may argue for the court to consider unique circumstances when formulating a support amount. For example, you may claim that your child participated in these high-level sports (i.e., like hockey) before your divorce, and that they should be able to maintain a closely similar lifestyle afterwards. Or, you may cite that while braces are technically considered a cosmetic medical want, they may give your child confidence in their daily life and overall work in their best interest.
No matter what specific divorce or family law matter you are currently dealing with, a skilled Morristown family law attorney at Graves Andrews, LLC, is willing and able to step in and facilitate the process. Retain our legal services today.