Extraordinary Expenses for Extraordinary Children

Many parents believe that child support only covers food, clothing, and housing. While those everyday expenses are part of child support, North Carolina’s Child Support Guidelines also allow certain additional costs to be included when calculating child support.

The most common additional expense is work-related child care. If a parent pays for child care so they can work or look for work, those reasonable costs are added to the child support calculation. The cost is then shared between the parents based on their incomes.

Another important expense is health insurance. If one parent pays for the child’s medical, dental, or vision insurance, the portion of the premium that applies to the child is added to the child support calculation. North Carolina law also generally requires a parent to provide health insurance for a child if it is available at a reasonable cost.

The Guidelines also address uninsured medical expenses. Basic child support already includes the first $250 per child each year for uninsured medical and dental expenses. However, costs above that amount may be divided between the parents if the court finds it appropriate. These expenses can include braces, physical therapy, counseling, treatment for chronic medical conditions, asthma care, vision care, dental treatment, and other necessary health care.

In addition to these common expenses, North Carolina courts may order parents to share certain extraordinary expenses. Under the Child Support Guidelines, extraordinary expenses are limited to two categories.

The first is special or private elementary or secondary school expenses that meet a child’s particular educational needs. This does not mean that every private school tuition payment will be included in child support. Instead, the court must determine that the expense is reasonable, necessary, and in the child’s best interests.

The second category is transportation expenses for travel between the parents’ homes. These expenses may be added when transportation costs are unusually high or necessary because of the family’s circumstances, such as when parents live far apart.

It is important to remember that not every expense a parent pays for a child will automatically increase or adjust child support. Expenses for sports, dance, music lessons, summer camps, hobbies, or other extracurricular activities are not automatically included under the North Carolina Child Support Guidelines. Parents may agree to share those costs, or a court may consider them when deciding whether to deviate from the Guidelines, but they are not considered extraordinary expenses under the standard calculation.

Every family is different. The court looks at the child’s needs, each parent’s income, and whether an expense is reasonable, necessary, and in the child’s best interests before deciding whether it should be included.

If you have questions about how child support is calculated or whether a particular expense may be considered by the court, speaking with an experienced North Carolina family law attorney can help you better understand your rights and responsibilities.