If you and your ex have a fairly amicable relationship and your divorce or custody case is moving along smoothly, you may feel very comfortable trusting each other. In such a situation, you and your ex might agree about child support – how much and how often it should be paid. If you agree and you trust each other to carry through on the agreement, why then do you need a child support order?
A child support order is for everyone’s protection. If your ex is supposed to pay you child support, but suddenly decides not to and you have no child support order in place, you need to go back to court and start all over to get one put in place. This can be costly and time-consuming, not to mention a headache. Putting an order in place today prevents these kinds of problems in the future.
Even though you may be able to talk to each other and agree today, a child support order prevents any miscommunication or misunderstanding in the future. Everything you agreed to is in writing and everyone can understand it.
If you are the parent receiving it, the order creates legal rights to that money and allows you to enforce the order if your ex stops paying. If you are the parent paying support, a child support order prevents your ex from seeking more than they are entitled to. You could be liable for back support, even though you’ve been unofficially paying it for years.
For the parent receiving payments, a child support order makes it clear the money is not taxable and is not a gift subject to gift tax. This provides financial security.
DeTorres & DeGeorge handles child support cases in New Jersey. Schedule a consultation with one of our attorneys today.