How co-parents can handle back-to-school expenses

On Behalf of | Jul 23, 2024 | Child Custody

Child support is designed to pay for a child’s basic daily needs – such as food, shelter and clothing. 

What doesn’t it pay for? That extensive list of back-to-school supplies, material fees, band dues, choir uniforms, backpacks, laptops for homework, sports equipment and all the little “extras” that add up to big bills at the start of every school year. When parents don’t plan ahead and include these things in their parenting plan, disputes can erupt.

How do you split the school bills fairly?

Every co-parenting situation is a little different, but you want to stress a cooperative spirit – because this is exclusively about the children. Here are several ways to handle it:

  1. Make a list of the expenses that go beyond the norm. Try to be inclusive, so that you don’t forget anything important. Decide together what is a “necessary” purchase (like that special tablet for your budding artist taking a graphic design elective) and what is a “want” (like those expensive sneakers your fashionista wants instead of the basic Reeboks). Decide together what the budget will support so you can present a united front.
  2. Split the estimated bill. There are basically two ways to do this: You can either divide the expenses down the middle or separate the bill according to the scale of your income. If you’re fairly evenly matched in incomes, dividing the bill evenly can be easiest – but a pro-rated agreement can ease financial concerns when one parent is less affluent than the others.
  3. Decide how the shopping will be handled. You don’t want to duplicate your efforts. Once you have a decision on how you’re going to divide the bill, you can either split up the shopping list or put one person in charge while the other person reimburses you.

If you’re still developing your parenting plan, it’s wise to include this aspect of the co-parenting arrangement in your agreement from the start. Otherwise, you could find yourself back in court unexpectedly.