If you’re a New Jersey parent preparing for divorce, you may be concerned about how this decision will impact your children. Whether the choice was mutual or not, it’s natural to worry about issues like custody, visitation, and New Jersey child support.
Seeking guidance from friends or family members who have been through a divorce can provide valuable insights and help you navigate the process with more confidence.
They may be able to tell you what worked or didn’t in their situations. Regarding child support, whether you’ll be the custodial parent using payments to provide for your children’s needs or the non-custodial parent making payments to help care for your kids, it helps to know more about the types of expenses support is meant to cover.
It’s also a good idea to learn more about the system and how it works, especially where you can seek support if a problem arises.
Quick Answer: What Does Child Support Cover in NJ?
Child support in New Jersey covers basic needs like housing, food, clothing, and healthcare. It also includes childcare, education-related expenses, and some extracurricular activities. Courts may factor in transportation, special medical needs, and costs tied to maintaining a child’s standard of living.
What Does New Jersey Child Support Pay For?
Child support is more than just money. It represents a parent’s responsibility to contribute to their child’s overall well-being, including their housing, education, healthcare, and emotional needs.
As caring parents in New Jersey, you naturally want what’s best for your children. However, in many divorce cases, parents often disagree on what that means.
The judge overseeing your case will make all child support decisions by using state guidelines at his or her discretion to issue a court order with your children’s best interests in mind.
The following list gives a general idea of the types of expenses child support typically covers:
- Mortgage/rent. As the primary caretaker, you and your children will share the main living space. Financial assistance from child support can be used to cover expenses like mortgage/rent and utilities.
- Groceries. If you have several children, especially teenagers, you may find it quite challenging to fill the pantry when your household no longer includes two incomes. You can apply support payments toward your grocery bill.
- Clothing. You may use support funds to cover clothing and shoes, including school uniforms and seasonal attire.
- Healthy living environment. You can also use the supplemental funds your ex-partner provides for your kids to cover the cost of furniture, toys, books or any other staple item you need to provide a safe and healthy living environment for your children.
- Medical. If any of your children need eyeglasses or have medical expenses of any kind, support monies can help cover the cost.
- Extracurricular. Even extracurricular activities, fees, or supplies may constitute valid child-related expenses, such as school field trips at school, sports equipment, dance lessons, or camps your children attend during summer months.
- Childcare and after-school programs. New Jersey child support can help cover the cost of childcare or after-school programs.
- Transportation. Child support payments can cover transportation costs, such as transportation to and from school, medical appointments, or visitation with the non-custodial parent.
The exact coverage of child support payments may vary for each family based on the child’s specific needs and the court’s determination of what is in their best interest.
What You Can’t Use Child Support For
When you divorce, your individual financial expenses are completely distinct from any financial needs related to your children. In short, you can’t use child support money for costs unrelated to your kids.
You cannot use child support for:
- Personal expenses—includes items like clothing for yourself, personal grooming, or vacations;
- Debt payments—child support is not intended to cover personal debts or loans;
- Non-child-related expenses—including bills unrelated to your child’s needs, such as entertainment or utilities for the adult household;
- Special clothing or equipment—sports equipment or gear for extracurricular activities is not covered unless specified in the child support order;
- Non-necessary medical expenses—elective medical procedures that are not essential to your child’s health are not covered;
- Post-secondary education costs—college tuition or education-related expenses beyond the age of 19 are excluded unless the court modifies the order; and
- Child support arrears from the other parent—back child support payments must be applied to the child’s needs, not for personal use.
Even if you don’t use the full amount of a given support payment in a particular month, you may not personally use the money for things that aren’t associated with your children’s needs. Misuse of child support money can lead to serious legal problems.
What Age Does Child Support End in NJ?
In New Jersey, child support and medical support obligations typically end when the child reaches the age of 19.
However, it’s important to note there are certain circumstances where support may continue beyond that age, but it cannot exceed the child’s 23rd birthday.
Can I Ask for More Child Support?
Once the court issues an order, you and your ex-partner must adhere to the terms, even if you don’t like them.
If a situation arises where you believe you should receive a greater amount of support, such as learning that your ex-partner has enjoyed a substantial increase in income, or your children’s needs prompt greater expenses, you can file a petition to request modification of the existing court order.
If your co-parent isn’t making payments on time or at all, you can immediately bring the matter to the court’s attention. A skilled child support attorney can help you prepare a request for modification or enforce existing support orders.
Weiner Law Group Can Help Your Child Support Case
Weiner Law Group can help navigate the complexities of New Jersey child support cases by protecting your rights and ensuring fair and adequate support for your child’s needs. We offer personalized and transparent solutions. Our experienced attorneys can assist with modifying existing orders, enforcing payments, and addressing any issues that arise during the process.Â
For over 30 years, we have partnered closely with our family law clients to help them move forward in their lives with confidence and success. Contact us today through our online form or call us at 973-403-1100 to learn how we can help create peace of mind with your child support matters.