When one parent is available to watch the children, but the other parent chooses to pay for childcare/babysitter anyways, is the other parent still responsible for paying for a share of the childcare even when it’s work related?
It doesn’t make sense that the other parent should pay when they were willing to watch the children free of charge.
The short answer is yes. The court will not force the other parent to remove the child from day care to lower the child support amount, even if the other parent is available to watch the child, unless it can be shown that the day-care is somehow harming the child.
I’m sorry I wasn’t clear. This isn’t a daycare issue. Planned daycare is accounted and paid for.
This is a unplanned work engagement (not planned daycare) where the parent had asked the other parent to watch them. Then for no identifiable reason, the parent decided to get a baby sitter instead of utilize the available parent who had agreed to care for them.
Unless there is a right of first refusal in the Agreement/Order there is no requirement that the parent offer the child to the other parent first.
Yes, I understand Right of First Refusal and it does not apply to this example.
So, from what you are saying. If one parent has a unplanned work event (not normal child care), then said parent can get a babysitter and make the other parent pay for it, even though the other parent was available to watch cost-free?
No, they would have to pay the baby sitter out of their own pocket, that is not the type of child care cost that is included in child support.