Child Support

[Ceinwen]

Need your opinion (for those who have BTDT):

My ex and I have a signed legal agreement re: child support, custody, etc. (it's our separation agreement, done by and signed in the presence of lawyers)

This past January my ex approached me and asked if he could pay me a lump sum up front, in order to lower his monthly obligation for 2009.

I said sure, the deposit up front helped me out, I saved all our emails back and forth re: the agreement to lower the amount and why (the up front pmt).

Was this a bad idea? Why or why not? I'm only asking because someone recently told me that playing with child support outside the written agreement could lead to trouble.

Thanks!

[MariesMama]

If you two are on decent terms (it seems like you are to some extent), then this isn't a problem. I would, however, send an email detailing when the payment amount will return to normal.

Paying outside the system only becomes an issue if you are using your state's CS system. Any payments made not using the system can be considered a gift and not counted toward the payor's obligation. But if you two are on the same page, why not?

[sugarmoon]

Hmm, I think it is more of a problem for the payer than the recipient, as you could still, theoretically, take him to court in the future to get the rest of that money.

The only possible problem I see for you is that if he wants to go to court to try to get the amount lowered, he could use this as evidence that you don't "need" the higher amount.