What Is Child Support Used For? Allowable Expenses Explained

Basic Needs Covered by Child Support

Child support payments are designed to cover the everyday costs of raising a child. When a court orders child support, the intention is to ensure that the child's standard of living is maintained as closely as possible to what it would have been if both parents lived together. Here are the primary categories of expenses that child support covers:

Housing and Shelter

A significant portion of child support goes toward housing costs. This includes rent or mortgage payments, property taxes, homeowners or renters insurance, utilities (electricity, gas, water, trash), and basic home maintenance. The reasoning is simple: the child needs a safe, stable place to live.

Food and Nutrition

All food and grocery expenses for the child are covered by child support. This includes everyday meals, school lunches, snacks, and special dietary needs. For infants, this would also include formula, baby food, and related supplies.

Clothing

Children grow quickly and need new clothes frequently. Child support covers everyday clothing, seasonal items (winter coats, boots), school uniforms, shoes, underwear, and accessories. It also covers laundry and dry cleaning costs.

Education Expenses

Education-related costs are a significant component of child support. These include:

• School supplies (notebooks, pens, backpacks, calculators)
• Textbooks and reading materials
• School fees and activity fees
• Tutoring and test preparation
• Field trips and school events
• Technology needs (computers, tablets, internet access)

For children in private school, some courts may include tuition as part of the child support calculation, especially if the child was already attending private school before the parents separated.

Medical and Healthcare Costs

Healthcare expenses are typically addressed in one of two ways within child support orders:

Health insurance: The court may order one or both parents to provide health insurance coverage for the child. The cost of premiums is often factored into the support calculation.

Unreimbursed medical expenses: Co-pays, deductibles, prescription medications, dental care, vision care, orthodontics, and therapy costs that are not covered by insurance are typically shared between parents proportionally to their incomes.

Extracurricular Activities

Child support may also cover extracurricular activities that contribute to the child's development:

• Sports leagues and team fees
• Music lessons and instrument rental
• Dance, gymnastics, or martial arts classes
• Art classes and creative workshops
• Summer camps and enrichment programs
• Club memberships (Scouts, 4-H, etc.)

Courts generally view these activities as important for a child's social, physical, and emotional development.

Childcare Costs

For working parents, childcare is often one of the largest expenses. Child support calculations typically include:

• Daycare center fees
• In-home childcare or nanny services
• Before-school and after-school care programs
• Babysitting for work-related needs

These costs are usually added on top of the base child support amount and shared proportionally between the parents based on their incomes.

What Child Support Cannot Be Used For

While the custodial parent has broad discretion over spending, child support should not be used for expenses that do not benefit the child. Examples of inappropriate uses include:

• The parent's personal entertainment or vacations (without the child)
• Luxury items or services solely for the parent
• Gambling or risky financial activities
• Paying off the parent's personal debts
• Gifts for the parent's new partner

However, proving misuse of child support funds is difficult. Courts generally presume the custodial parent is using funds appropriately unless there is clear evidence the child's needs are not being met.

How Courts Determine Usage

Courts typically do not monitor how child support funds are spent. The legal standard is that the custodial parent is using the funds for the child's benefit as part of the household's overall expenses. This means that if the child is fed, housed, clothed, and receiving proper care, the court considers the support being used appropriately.

In rare cases, a court may require an accounting of child support spending if the paying parent can demonstrate that the child's basic needs are not being met despite support payments being made.

State-by-State Differences

While the general categories of expenses are similar across states, there are variations in how states handle specific costs:

• Some states explicitly include extracurricular activities in guidelines
• Others treat these as discretionary additions to the base support
• College expenses may or may not be included depending on the state
• Some states have specific provisions for children with special needs

Visit our state guides to learn about your state's specific rules, or use the child support calculator to estimate your obligations.