I often have divorce clients who come to me and tell me that they have "everything worked out" and that they just need me to push the paperwork.  I'm often skeptical of such claims, but occasionally you do find the well-researched couple that indeed has "everything worked out."  Often if there are children involved they come up with alternative arrangements to satisfy the need for child support other than the standard child support guidelines that would be enforced in a court proceeding.

The child support guidelines (which can be found in Virginia Code § 20-108.2) methodically set forth the child support obligation among the parents based on how many children need support and the combined gross monthly income of the parties.  Other financial concerns such as work-related child care and health and dental insurance are taken into account when determining the final obligation.  For most, this is a quick and easy way to determine how much child support should be paid to the custodial parent, attorneys like it for it's simplicity and Judges like it because the guidelines come from the wise old men in the General Assembly. 

Traditional child support (i.e. a Court Order stating X pays $500.00/month to Y) is easy to enforce.  In fact the Division of Child Support Enforcement was created by the General Assembly for that exact purpose.  Non-traditional child support (X pays Y when there is a need or X pays for the children's child care and clothing) becomes much more difficult for a judge to enforce.  However, I have had clients where non-traditional child support is much easier, and stress free for the parents.  Of course for non-traditional child support to work it is helpful if the parties are mature, aren't fighting with each other and legitimately have their children's best interests at heart.  

Of course, all situations are different, I just wanted to bring to your attention the potential benefits and drawbacks of handling child support alternatively.

 

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