Extracurriculars for Children of Divorced Parents: Who Pays for Them?
Navigating co-parenting during and after divorce comes with unique challenges, and as your child grows, the discussions you’ll need to have will evolve. When your child starts showing interest in sports, theatre, and other activities, you and your co-parent will need to discuss who pays for these activities. If you are struggling to provide your child with access to the activities they’re passionate about, talking to a child support attorney may be your next step.
At Milligan, Beswick, Levine & Knox, LLP, we advocate aggressively on behalf of our clients’ best interests—and in family law matters, that means doing what’s best for their children. One of our family law attorneys is partner Stephen B. Levine, who has spent decades building his reputation as a litigator. Find out how our child support law firm can support you by calling us at 909-894-0812.
What Counts as an Extracurricular Activity?
In the world of family law, extracurricular activities include anything outside a child’s standard school curriculum. Examples include:
- Club and school sports
- Dance, music, and art lessons
- Academic tutoring or test prep (unless required for a child to pass, in which case it’s less cut-and-dry)
- Summer camp
- Martial arts
- Gymnastics and tumbling
- Volunteer programs
- Leadership programs
Because these activities are not considered basic needs or living expenses, they aren’t automatically included in child support calculations. However, that does not mean that you have to figure it out on your own—you can account for extracurriculars in your co-parenting agreement.
How the Court Decides Who Pays
With the help of a child support lawyer, you can determine who covers each type of expense incurred by your child. California law grants the court the right to order additional child support to cover additional childrearing expenses. While extracurricular activities are not specifically listed, the courts have been known to order extracurricular activity payments. Note that this doesn’t mean the court will intervene; just that it can. A lot depends on the specifics of your parenting agreement and what the judge deems to be necessary and reasonable.
What’s necessary and reasonable is subjective. For example, a park district program that is affordable for both parents may be considered reasonable by the court; high-end equestrian classes that would bankrupt one parent but not the other are less likely to be considered reasonable.
In some cases, the court defers to an agreement that’s already in place. This is why working with a child support attorney from the beginning is helpful—by addressing these issues before they arise, you don’t have to revisit them as often. The court then only has to intervene if the terms of the agreement are no longer tenable.
The court may also order the parents to share costs. They’ll look at each parent’s financial ability, if the activity is in the child’s best interest, and if the decision to enroll the child in an activity was mutual or made by one parent.
In some cases, one parent ends up paying for an activity. This may happen if they do not give the other parent proper notice as required in their divorce agreement, if the court deems the activity to be unreasonable, or if they are the only parent with the financial means to cover the expense.
What if Parents Disagree About the Activity?
This is a situation that goes beyond the financial aspect of extracurricular activities. While securing payment for an activity is obviously important, when parents disagree on the activity itself, the child is the one who suffers. A child who attends activities only half of the time—when they are with the parent who selected the activities—falls behind those who attend all of the time.
Parents who find themselves in this position may turn to a child custody law firm to explore their options. They may use mediation to reach a new and mutually beneficial agreement or ask the court to assign financial responsibility.
Unsure How to Handle Child Support Disputes? Our Child Support Law Firm is Here to Help
While figuring out extracurricular activity payments can be stressful, it’s worth it to give your child access to new experiences and skills. To discuss your concerns with a child support lawyer, call us at 909-894-0812 or fill out our online contact form.
Stephen Levine, is a Board Certified Specialist in Criminal Defense — an honor achieved by only the top criminal law attorneys in California. Mr. Levine has over 40 years of experience in criminal defense and family law serving Southern California, and is a highly regarded Super Lawyer as well as AV Rated attorney.