Fern Smith is the Interstate & Parenting Time Specialist with the Cass County Friend of the Court.

Child support is the monetary value determined payable by a parent to the other parent for the support of the child or children that the parties have in common. 

Child support is ordered pursuant to the State of Michigan Child Support Formula to make up the financial difference (as much as possible) of the parents not residing in the same home as one family unit.  In most cases, child support is paid to the parent that has the most overnights with the child(ren) on an annual basis.  However, if the parents have a large difference in income, one parent may still be ordered to pay child support even if the parents have equal overnights with the child(ren). 

Children require an extensive amount of care emotionally, physically and financially. Child support pays for the expenses assumed by the parent receiving child support for the child(ren)’s everyday needs.

As children age and grow, there is typically an increase in expenses that may cause one or both parents some financial burden. Increased expenses may result in a review or modification of the current child support order. The purpose of the modification is to ensure that child support is calculated as accurately as possible and to ensure that a right-sized child support order is in place. The result of a child support review may be an increase, decrease or no change at all in the amount of child support ordered.

In determining what child support pays for, the Michigan Child Support Formula (MCSF 2017) section 1.02(A) states, “A child support obligation includes payment for the general care and needs of a child, medical support and child care expenses.” 

In application, this means that child support pays for various items and activities deemed necessary by the custodial party. These activities and items could include: food, water, toiletries, school clothing, lunch, back to school materials, field trips, school sporting events and medical care just to name a few. When asking what child support pays for, the simplest answer is that support covers the same basic needs that we as adults require to live a productive well-balanced life.

A common disagreement that parents often have regarding child support is whether child support covers when their child(ren) participates in activities such as sports, dance, band, scouts or other extra-curricular activities. The Michigan Child Support Formula presumes that the amount of child support ordered is sufficient to pay for any extra-curricular activities the child(ren) may participate in.  However, parents may wish to agree to other payment arrangements.  In that case, any agreement as to payment arrangements should be put in writing, and preferably, be made part of a court order.

Another misconception about child support that parents sometimes have is the belief that if a parent is not making their child support payments, then that parent is not entitled to their court-ordered parenting time, or that if a person is exercising their parenting time, then they are not required to make child support payments. Neither statement is true.  Parenting time and child support are two completely separate matters and typically covered in separate provisions in a court order or even in separate court orders.

A person could never make a support payment as ordered and he or she would still be entitled to the same parenting time ordered as if they had never missed a payment.  Additionally, a person could exercise all of his or her court ordered parenting time, but they are still required to make all of their court order child support payments.

If you have questions about the FOC that you think would be helpful to address in future columns, please send them to the FOC email address:  foc@cassco.org.