In the previous articles about child support, we worked through Lines 1 through 5 of the Form 14 of the Missouri child support worksheet. We went through determining who pays and how to determine income and base support. The amount pulled from the table for Line 5 is the base support or starting point. Line 6 and its subparts are where parents get to add costs for monthly expenses like health insurance premiums, childcare, medical expenses, and activities or lessons. Depending on which parent is paying the expenses, it can increase or decrease the final presumed amount. Be careful about what expenses get included in the form. I encourage parties to put some expenses in the parenting plan as joint costs with provisions on how and when to pay so it is not part of the Form 14. This is especially true when the cost will stop in a couple years. However, there are times when this is necessary to make sure expenses for the children actually get paid. It really depends on the relationship between the parents and their ability to co-parent.
Childcare
Childcare is one of the most expensive things when it comes to children. In this context, childcare is not the occasional babysitter when you need to go out of town or have a date night. If the other parent can care for the child instead it is not childcare. This is only for work-related childcare. Even just part-time childcare can make it difficult to afford necessities like food or utilities. Even finding a facility or company that has openings can be tough if you do not start looking early. Many parents rely on grandparents or other family members to watch their kids so they can work. The parent who is paying for childcare costs can add this amount to the Form 14 on Line 6a for the receiving parent and 6b for the paying parent.
Childcare is the best example for when I encourage parents to take an expense out of the Form 14. When determining child support for a four-year-old, it does not make sense to have childcare on the form when the child will be starting school in the next year. Child support will have to be recalculated without that expense once it no longer exists. Now you are having to reopen the topic of money that is uncomfortable and can cause hostility between parents when there usually is none. That said, if a parent is unlikely to pay for childcare and it well fall to one parent to have to pay, then it makes sense to have it in the child support calculation. Judges will usually include the childcare costs as an expense paid by the receiving parent through the Form 14 if there is a disagreement about whether or not the paying parent will pay it outside of the Form 14. Judges do that to preserve the best interests of the children involved and not have a parent drowning in debt or out of work because of the other parent’s actions.
Health Insurance and Medical Costs
Health insurance costs are put on Line 6c and who pays for insurance will depend on who has the better health insurance plan at the best rate. Courts are not going to go with the cheapest plan. The courts are guided by Missouri Revised Statute Chapter 454, Section 603(2) and have to consider the following: the best interests of the child, who has the best coverage based on the present and anticipated needs of the child, the financial ability of the parents to afford the costs, and the extent that any subsidies or reductions for participation in a group plan apply. This is why it is standard to exchange documents related to health insurance in custody cases. Comparison of plans beyond costs matters to the courts.
Once you determine which parent’s plan to use, that parent then needs to look at their health benefits summary or other document that relates how much they pay per month for the plan. Often, there is a different amount for the employee only premium versus the employee and children premium and yet another cost for employee, spouse, and children premium. The only amount the parent can get credit for is the additional amount for the children. That means taking the amount for employee and children coverage and subtracting the amount for the employee only coverage. That sum is the amount for health insurance premiums that gets added on Line 6b based on who is paying that expense.
Something else to pay attention to is your out-of-pocket expenses when it comes to medical costs. If there is going to be a known reoccurring expense, such as an inhaler or monthly medications, that can be included in Line 6d and can be paid by either parent. However, there are plenty of future medical costs that pop up. These can be things like braces, hospital stays, and other things not covered by insurance or that are not regularly occurring events. The courts order parents to share the costs of any future medical expenses equally or based upon the percentage of income earned on Line 4 (see the article HERE to read more on that). The most common thing is an equal share, but once it looks like one parent earns over 65% of the combined gross income that parent may have to start paying a higher share of out-of-pocket medical expenses.
Extraordinary Costs
The label of extraordinary costs is misleading. These are usually things that the child participates in such as sports, band, lessons, tutoring, or other similar activities or enrichments, as well as educational costs like school uniforms and school lunches. They can be minimal costs or thousands per year. The description for Line 6e is “other agreed-upon or ordered extraordinary costs.” That means either the parents agree to the amount listed or the court ordered the amount listed. Courts are pro-extracurricular activities because they are generally good for children. Additionally, courts want children to continue with activities in which they are already participating. However, sometimes one parent no longer agrees to having the child participate in an activity due to money or parenting time issues. Unless the activity truly hinders a parent’s ability to see their child or puts an undue burden on a parent’s finances, a court is unlikely to allow a parent to unenroll the child. The only time I have seen a judge allow a parent to stop an activity was when the only quality time a parent would have with the children was during the summer where he or she lived out of town and that parent could find similar or comparable activities during the summer for them where he or she resides.
So what amount do you put in that line? The general rule I have seen followed is if it is going to cost you more than $100.00 per month, then add it to the Form 14 unless you and the other parent can agree to pay it outside child support worksheet. Even for those things that occur during the summer only and multiple activities throughout the year, try adding them up and dividing it out through the year to spread out the costs to be affordable for both parents. If there are soccer clubs in the fall and volleyball camps during the summer, add them up to see if it’s worth including them.
One thing to point out are school lunches. These can really add up for teenagers and some parents refuse to pay believing it is part of the child support they pay to the other parent. There is not a bright line rule on this topic and really comes down to how much parenting time each parent is receiving and the costs of lunches. For instance, one parent can pack an all organic lunch for their child every day if they want to, but they cannot force the bill of $300 per month for this food onto the other parent or demand the other parent also pack these types of lunches unless that parent agrees it is essential. (If there is a medical need for certain foods, then it could be included in the worksheet. I have yet to personally see it happen, but it is a possibility.) Most of the time, school lunches depend on the parent who is taking the child to school that day. If the cost of school lunches is high enough to include in the Form 14 on Line 6d, it may be worth it including or keeping it outside the Form 14 and allowing each parent to pay or provide lunch as they want.
As you can see, expenses for children vary greatly among families. Lines 7 and 8 show the total costs of all expenses and those expenses with the base amount of support. There are always different facts and considerations in each case. This is why it is important to talk with an attorney to make sure that the right things are included in the worksheet.