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How are Extracurricular Activities Paid for By Divorced Parents?

Many children today participate in extracurricular activities. These activities can become very expensive.  Because of the high costs of many activities that young people enjoy, an issue of cost may arise when parents are divorced. The parents may not be in agreement regarding who should pay for the different things that their kids are involved in.

Divorced parents need to understand the rules that apply to child support and must make informed choices on how extracurricular activities should be paid for. An experienced Las Vegas, NV divorce attorney at Pintar Albiston, LLP should be consulted for help understanding your options for sharing payments for activities your children are involved in doing.

How Do Divorced Parents Pay for Extracurricular Activities?

Child support payments in Nevada are determined based on a standard formula and this formula does not necessarily take payment for extracurricular activities into account. When determining how much child support is appropriate, the special needs of the child are a factor. This means that in certain limited cases, the child support order may be affected by the need for parents to share payments for extracurricular activities. For example, if a child is a gifted athlete or prodigy and is undergoing expensive training to develop this gift, the costs of this training could be considered when determining how much support must be paid. Likewise, if the child has a medical problem and participates in a sport or other extracurricular activity as part of therapy, then the child support order could consider the expenses associated with the activity.

As a general matter, however, the standard child support formula will not be affected by either parent’s desire for the costs of extracurricular activities to be shared. Parents can negotiate their own divorce settlement and custody agreement and include a provision regarding shared payments for children’s activities, but both parents would need to agree to this if the court is not going to order it.

If the court doesn’t require that both parents share costs for extracurriculars and if the divorced parents do not agree on their own to split expenses, then generally the parent who wants the child to participate in the activity would be the one to pay for it.  This means if the child lives with a parent who signs him or her up for a sport or lessons or other activity, that parent would foot the bill. The parent could ask the other to pay, but probably wouldn’t be able to compel him or her to do so.

An experienced divorce lawyer knows how important it is for you to ensure that your children are able to take advantage of all opportunities that are available to them, including doing the activities that they love. Pinter Albiston LLP will help you to argue for your preferred custody and support orders, and can assist you in negotiating with your spouse during a divorce. We will use our legal knowledge and experience to help you explore all options for ensuring that your child’s extracurricular activities can be paid for. Call today to schedule a consultation with a Las Vegas divorce lawyer to learn more about how we can help.