With the holiday season arriving, you may be shopping for holiday gifts for your children. With some of the top toys of the season being quite expensive, you may wonder, “are these gifts considered part of my child support payment?”
Gifts For Your Children
No matter if your gifts are cash, electronics, or toys, a gift for your child is exactly that: a gift. Unless it is preapproved by the court to consider a gift towards your child as a child support payment, your gifting does not affect your monthly payment for child support.
You should not consider any gifts given to your children — for the holidays or otherwise — as payment for child support. If you refuse to pay child support because of gifts you give your children, you may fall behind on your payments and be vulnerable to child support enforcement.
What Child Support Is Meant For
It may be somewhat upsetting to learn that gifting does not affect your child support payments, however, you should think about how the purpose of child support is to provide the basics for your children. Your child support is meant to cover the costs of:
- Housing,
- Food,
- Clothing,
- A public education, and
- Medical care and health insurance
In certain circumstances, your child support can include additional costs, such as extracurriculars, daycare, dental work and braces, a car and auto insurance, a cell phone and a phone plan, and any other additional expenses that are necessary for the child. These expenses can be added through a child support modification.
How Child Support Is Paid
In Texas, there are six ways to pay your child support. You can pay your child support through:
- Bank autodraft,
- Wage withholding,
- Credit or debit card,
- With a check or money order through the mail,
- With cash or money order at a TouchPay kiosk, or
- At a child support pay kiosk location.
Since gifts cannot be considered child support, gifts are not one of the six ways to pay your child support. When paying your child support, you can choose the payment method best for you.
If you have questions about your child support agreement, call our San Antonio child support lawyer today at (210) 405-6623. We can look over your agreement with you and help you understand what your agreement entails.