Day care for your children can be very expensive and especially difficult for a single parent to afford. Read further to discover how the Oklahoma child support guidelines address day care expenses.
How Day Care Expenses Factor Into Oklahoma Child Support
The cost of day care can be a huge financial burden for the custodial parent after a divorce. The Oklahoma child support guidelines deal with this by adjusting the total amount of child support awarded to reflect the cost of daycare.
Generally, each parent will contribute to the cost of day care according to their percentage of total parental income. For example, if parent A earns $60K per year and parent B earns $40k, parent A will be responsible for 60% of the cost of daycare and parent B will be responsible for 40%.
Once each parent’s expected contribution to day care has been established, these amounts will be factored into the amount of child support to be awarded. For example, if the non-custodial parent is paying $600 per month in day care expenses and her individual contribution to the total amount of parental income is 25%, the non-custodial parent will be obliged to pay an additional $450 in child support.
Sometimes, however, the cost of day care is not factored into the child support calculation. Often the parents may agree that they will each be individually responsible for paying their proportionate share to the day care provider. This is often the case when one of the parents has some doubt about the other’s ability to be reliable in paying pay the day care provider and wants to prevent money that may be given for day care from being spent on other things.
For more information on how Oklahoma child support calculations factor in other expenses such as the cost of healthcare for your children, contact an experienced Tulsa, Oklahoma divorce attorney.
Free Consultation: Tulsa Child Support Attorney
A qualified Oklahoma child support lawyer can assist in determining what amounts must be entered into a standard guideline. For a free consultation about child support orders, enforcement or modifications, call Divorce of Tulsa Law Office today. For a free confidential consultation, call now: (918) 924-5526.
