As a parent, you should provide for your child. It is important to know that it is your responsibility to provide your child with whatever they need for survival, regardless of whether or not you are their custodian.
To understand support arrears, you should first understand child support. When the parents of an under-age child or children get separated or divorced, usually one parent has been deemed the primary custodian. That does not mean that the other parent has no responsibilities. It is important to note that you still retain the legal custodial rights to your child or children even if you don’t retain the physical custody rights.
That means that regardless of who the primary custodial parent to the kid(s) is, both parents have a financial obligation to provide for their children. In the eyes of the law, both parents should provide at least some reasonable support for their children. Therefore, child support means that there is a divided financial responsibility among both parents to the child or children when raising the kid(s). It means that while the custodial parent is in charge of providing for the child’s daily expenses, the other parent must provide set timely payments to contribute to the raising of the child.
How is Child Support Paid, and How is it Used?
The parents of the child or children are the ones to determine how the child support will be used. The amount and time of payment vary from one setting to another and depend on what the parents agree upon. The typical payments often happen monthly and are deductible from the paycheck. But typically, most child support payments go towards providing food, school expenses, clothing, housing, medical care, and children’s toys. Besides, the money can be used to pay for any activities that the child wishes to engage in, whether in school or outside school.
The bottom line here is that child support should be used to pay for any activities that benefit the child. The custodial parent needs to refrain from using child support money for their activities. If the custodial parent decides to use the money for their own needs, the action might lead to trouble with the co-parent and, in some instances, the law.
What are Child Support Arrears?
Child support arrears are the unpaid child support payments resulting from any particular reason such as unemployment, incarceration, among other reasons. Support arrears are of two types:
Assigned Support Arrears
Assigned support arrears refer to unfilled child support payments that have piled up resulting from the non-custodial parent failing to meet their end of the bargain while the custodial parent is on public aid. In this instance, the non-custodial parent owes the state the support arrears since the state provides support for their child or children.
During repayment, there is little chance that the custodial parent will receive any percentage of the payments. The payments are paid to the government fully, and the custodial parent will only receive any money if there is a leftover once the payments to the government are settled.
Non-assigned Support Arrears
These support arrears are the money the non-custodial parent owes the custodial parent for child support payments missed. Here, the government does not receive anything when the payment is made. Payment of these arrears solely depends on the agreement between the two parents, and if the custodial parent decides to waive the debt, then the non-custodial parent will not pay.
Final Thoughts
It is good to understand that even after a separation or divorce, the parents of an underage kid(s) are responsible for raising the child or children. Child support payments are made to the custodial parent by the non-custodial parent to ensure that the child or children have a quality of life with all the basic needs, education, and other things the child might need.
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