Recently my ex claimed he wanted to spend a week with our kids but only if I paid him child support for the week that they were with him. He claims that I would be paying a babysitter regardless so I should just give him that money (plus more) since the kids will not be in the care of the sitter while I was at work. We currently do not have a set visitation schedule in place so he sees them as he chooses. I told him I wasn’t going to pay him to spend time with his own kids and he chose not to see them that week. We go back to court in a few weeks to modify custody, visitation, and hopefully the judge will allow the children and I to move out of state. My ex claims he can use this against me in court to show that I am keeping the kids from him and I will not allow him to spend time with our children. My first question is, am I obligated to pay him while the kids stay with him if it is not court ordered (he also claims I should be paying his parents anytime the kids are with them as well)? And my second question is, can he use the fact that I wouldn’t pay him against me to show that I wouldn’t let him see the kids? I kept telling him the kids are more then welcome to see him but I wasn’t going to pay him and, I feel, he was the one who ultimately made the decision not to see them. If anyone has any advice for me on this I would be very grateful! Thank you in advance!!
The child support guidelines base the child support obligation on a number of things including the number of overnights the children spend with each parent. Frequently, the noncustodial parent will have the children for an extended period of time but this does not cancel the obligation or shift the obligation to the other parent as the amount that is calculated is based on the entire year.
He may try to use the fact that you wouldn’t pay him against you, but based on the facts as you have presented them, I don’t see how a judge would believe that you were attempting to keep the children from him.