My boyfriend pays child support "under the table"

[Taygreen]

Jurisdiction

California

My boyfriend pays child support, taken out of his check each week. He has two young children. On top of whats taken out of his check, he gives her extra cash every week. I told him he needs to go to court and report this. It will build his credit and that way everything is recorded. What should he do?

 

[leslie82]

My boyfriend pays child support, taken out of his check each week. He has two young children. On top of whats taken out of his check, he gives her extra cash every week. I told him he needs to go to court and report this. It will build his credit and that way everything is recorded. What should he do?

That's a gift- that's not going to be considered child support and it won't count toward his arrears if he has any.

He needs to STOP giving her money directly. When I was with my ex husband I paid his child support (he didn't work). I had it set up online through the state to make payments online to the state.

He needs to go child support enforcement and see if he can set up anything to make additional payments if he's trying to pay off arrears.

 

[leslie82]

My boyfriend pays child support, taken out of his check each week. He has two young children. On top of whats taken out of his check, he gives her extra cash every week. I told him he needs to go to court and report this. It will build his credit and that way everything is recorded. What should he do?

That's a gift- that's not going to be considered child support and it won't count toward his arrears if he has any.

He needs to STOP giving her money directly. When I was with my ex husband I paid his child support (he didn't work). I had it set up online through the state to make payments online to the state.

He needs to go child support enforcement and see if he can set up anything to make additional payments if he's trying to pay off arrears.

 

[mightymoose]

Agreed. Anything he gives that does not go through the court is not counted as child support. It should be easy enough to simply increase the amount they already draw.

 

[zddoodah]

I told him he needs to go to court and report this. It will build his credit and that way everything is recorded.

Where did you get this idea? Paying child support -- whether it be court-ordered support or something extra -- has nothing to do with "his credit." While it's great that he is providing support for his kids beyond what the court has ordered, the court couldn't care less that he is doing so, and there is no mechanism for "reporting" such additional payments to the court.

What should he do?

He should continue paying the court ordered support and should do whatever he feels is appropriate beyond that. It certainly wouldn't be a bad idea for him to keep documentation regarding all payments made.