The biggest source of friction about child support is the lack of accounting for how the funds are spent. The funds provided for child support must be spent for the benefit of the children. Using the funds for other purposes may result in a court intervention. However, most states do not make any provision to allow the payer to receive an accounting of the funds. As a result of lobbying by fathers’ rights groups, a number of states have added such a provision. Regardless, getting this requires a court order, and the courts have generally interpreted the right as a narrow one.
Advocates of requiring accounting of child support spending claim it would improve the rate of compliance with child support orders because noncustodial parents would be more likely to believe that their money was being spent as intended. Opponents argue that there is no evidence that this is the case. They say that allowing payers to request accountings gives too much control to the noncustodial parent, and undermines the custodial parent’s decision-making authority.
Payers concerned about this issue may be able to negotiate an accounting of their child-support funds into their divorce agreement. Alternatively, they may specify that they will directly pay certain bills, such as private school, and reduce the monthly support payment accordingly. They must use care, however, to avoid reducing their payment below the level specified by the state guidelines, in order to avoid the potential for a lawsuit due to underpayment of support.
