Who Pays for Extracurricular Activities After Divorce?

Child support is typically required in a California divorce or whenever two parents are living in different households.  A child is entitled to receive financial support from both his or her parents, regardless of what relationship the child has with each parent.  The support is determined based on parental income, the number of children, and the amount of time the child spends under the care of each parent.  

While child support is required to ensure a child has enough money to have a good quality of life, child support orders generally do not address the issue of who pays for extracurricular activities after divorce. Parents can negotiate on this issue and include it in a divorce agreement, but they do not have to and this issue is not always decided when a marriage ends or when parents split up.

If you are concerned about who pays for extracurricular activities after divorce, an experienced Irvine divorce attorney at Brown & Charbonneau, LLP can help you to understand what options you have.  Call today to schedule an appointment and learn how our attorneys can help you to fight to protect your children’s ability to do the activities they love.

Who Pays for Extracurricular Activities After Divorce?

As a general matter, a parent who wants his or her child to participate in a particular extracurricular activity is going to be the one who assumes responsibility for paying for the activity. The parent who wants the child to do the activity can ask the other parent for a contribution to the costs of participation. However, there is likely going to be no requirement that the other parent pay any money for the extracurricular activity. A parent receiving child support can obviously use that money for any purpose related to caring for the child, including for the costs of extracurricular activities. However, it is usually not possible to compel a larger child support payment just to ensure a child has enough money to participate in a particular sport or other hobby.

There are exceptions to this. If parents are negotiating a divorce and custody agreement outside of court, they can include a provision specifying that the costs of extracurricular activities will be shared. If a parent agrees to this and the agreement becomes legal, that parent is going to have to abide by the settlement agreement and pay as promised.

There may also be situations where an extracurricular activity has a concrete benefit. For example, a special need’s child may participate in equestrian therapy. In this case, the extracurricular activity of riding horses could potentially be considered a medical need and not just an extracurricular activity. The court may thus order the other parent to contribute to paying for a part of the therapy as part of child support.

To learn more about who pays for extracurricular activities after divorce, and for help trying to get your child’s activities paid for, contact Brown & Charbonneau, LLP today for more information. Our Irvine family lawyers are here to help with all of your legal questions related to child custody, divorce and family law matters. Give us a call today to learn more.