On Back-To-School Co-Parenting Stress

The countdown to the school year is plenty stressful for kids.  They are in no hurry to give up their late nights and lazy mornings, nor their aquatic lifestyle and virtually unlimited screen time.  Riding the school bus at 8:00 in the morning is a bummer compared to driving a golf cart at 10:00 at night.  Of course, back-to-school is no picnic for parents, either.  Divorced parents have it especially rough.  Changes to your routine can easily reopen sensitive subjects with your ex.  If your ex refused to let your daughter dye her blond hair auburn for seventh grade and she pouted about it all year, will the subject be up for discussion again before eighth grade?  The worst part is the financial stress, though.  Even when both parents follow the parenting plan and child support order to the letter, times of financial stress, such as all the expenses related to the beginning of a new school year, can stir up old resentment about how, ever since your divorce, you are bearing the heavier financial burden.  No doubt your ex-spouse feels the same way.  For help resolving the co-parenting issues that rear their ugly heads when a new school year comes around, contact a Birmingham child custody lawyer.

If Your Ex-Spouse Keeps Bugging You About Paying for School Clothes, Tell Her to Reread the Child Support Order

Unless shopping for clothes for children is your hobby, then you probably do most of your clothes shopping at the end of the summer, before school starts.  Even though the state sometimes offers a few weeks of tax-free clothes shopping, the bill for your children’s back-to-school clothes is enough to put any member of the workforce in the mood for a fight.

Your ex might call you and start screaming about how you’re a no good, lazy bum who left her on the hook for a credit card bill that she will probably have to keep making payments on until she drops dead.  You might be tempted to say that it’s her fault that the children inherited her expensive taste in clothes, and it was her idea to get divorced and fulfill her dreams, so she is stuck with the consequences.  Your child support order has a solution to this problem, though, and it will probably please no one.

The child support order is based on what the court has determined your children’s reasonable expenses are, based on the financial documents submitted during your divorce.  In other words, when you got divorced, you both filled in blanks on forms indicating how much money you spend on children’s clothing each year.  It is up to both of you to budget for that, throughout the year.  In other words, you keep paying child support, and your ex can use it to make payments on the credit card where she charged the back-to-school clothes.  Maybe she will do a better job of budgeting next year.

Contact Peeples Law About Back-to-School Co-Parenting

A Birmingham family law attorney can help you resolve disputes about expenses and transportation related to your children’s education.  Contact Peeples Law today to schedule a consultation.

Source:

custodyxchange.com/locations/usa/alabama/parenting-plan.php