What Should I Use My Child Support Money for In Atlanta?
If you’re receiving child support for the first time, you might be wondering how to spend this money. This is an important question, and the fact that you’re asking shows that you care about your children. While each family might have different priorities, you should generally focus on a few key necessities for your children. If you’re concerned about not having enough child support, consider speaking with a child support lawyer in Atlanta.
Focus on Basic Necessities First
If you’re concerned about spending your child support money responsibly, you might want to focus on the basic necessities of life first. These include shelter, food, clothing, electricity, education, health care, and security. Once you have these basics covered, you can start to think about other expenditures that might improve your child’s quality of life. These secondary needs might include entertainment, sports, restaurant meals, transportation, and so on.
Avoid Spending the Money on Yourself
As a general rule, you should avoid spending these funds directly on yourself. Child support is meant to provide for children, and you might face various issues if you spend the money on personal expenses. For example, you might be tempted to spend the child support money on jewelry, fashion, or other luxury goods. Perhaps you will use the child support to purchase a new car. Whatever the case may be, these purchases obviously fail to serve the child’s best interests.
There Is Little Oversight When It Comes to Child Support
That being said, there is very little oversight when it comes to child support. You do not have to report how you’re spending this money, and the court will simply trust you to do the right thing. Even if you spend a few dollars here and there on your own personal expenses, people will probably not find out. In addition, it is difficult to determine whether you spent your own personal income or the child support funds, especially when the two sources of income become intermingled in a single bank account.
As long as the children’s needs are being met, courts typically don’t monitor how funds are spent. However, you might face consequences if your children start suffering from obvious neglect. For example, if they become malnourished, someone may raise concerns. A concerned teacher might see the children with tattered clothes and ill-fitting shoes. In these kinds of situations, you might face an investigation, and the authorities may discover that you have been spending the child support money on yourself. In this situation, you can expect serious consequences – including the loss of custody.
Can a Child Support Lawyer in Atlanta Help Me?
As a single parent, you have the freedom to decide how to spend your child support money. That said, you may face legal issues if you spend your money on personal expenses instead of your children. You should also know that you have the right to petition to increase your child support in Atlanta if you think you need more. To discuss these issues and many others, schedule a consultation with Kaye, Lembeck, Hitt & French.
Source:
childsupport.georgia.gov/
