Child support & visitation - when teens begin to drive

North Carolina Divorce Law Divorce and Separation Answers
1

I1. Does a teen’s car insurance factor into child support as extraneous expense to be included in the calculation?

  1. Since the non-custodial parent moved an hour away to a neighboring town several years after divorce, while I have stayed in our original town, isn’t that parent responsible for the cost of transportation to/from their place for parenting time?

Thank you!

2

  1. Her car insurance premium isn’t part of the child support calculation the same way that work-related child care costs and health insurance premiums are, but you could cite car insurance as a reason for deviation from the child support guidelines.

  2. It isn’t necessarily as simple as because he moved, he is automatically responsible for transportation. What controls is what your order says - it should have some language about transportation for visitation. If the order requires him to provide transportation for visitations, then he is obligated to do so (even though the order was entered before he moved). He also could file a motion to modify child custody to address the transportation issue since there has been a substantial change in circumstances since the last order was entered. However, given her age and how long it takes to have your case heard, it probably wouldn’t be very practical for him try and modify custody at this point.