Getting Through Your Divorce and on With Your Life

Getting Through Your Divorce and on With Your Life

Pros And Cons Of Paying Child Support Via A Lump Sum

Celina Henry

When you're required to pay child support after a divorce, it's common to make payments to your ex-spouse on a monthly basis. For example, the court may rule that at the start of the month, you must pay a certain amount of money to him or her to help pay for your children's needs over the course of the month. In certain scenarios, the discussion of a lump-sum payment, rather than regular payments, may come up. Here are some pros and cons to know about paying your child support in this way.

Pro: No Future Budgeting

One of the challenges of paying monthly child support is that you can't fail to deliver or you'll risk being in trouble with the court. This means that you must always be budgeting — considering how much you're spending on other expenses while being sure that you'll have enough money to make your child support payment. When you pay a lump sum upfront, you won't have to worry about this future budgeting.

Con: The Lump Sum Will Be Considerable

If you're going to pay a lump sum to your spouse for child support, you can count on it being a significant amount of money. Most people don't have the means of making such a payment, but those who are affluent do. Even still, taking a significant amount of money out of your account can quickly change your financial picture.

Pro: It Can Demonstrate Caring

There are different ways that you can approach the idea of making a child support lump sum to your children, especially as they age and may begin to ask questions about this situation. When you pay via lump sum, you can tell your children that you did so because you never wanted them to go without. For example, you could say, "I wanted to be sure that your mother would have all the money she needed to care for you at once, rather than have to wait for an installment each month."

Con: There Could Be Future Negotiations

When a spouse receives a lump sum of money for child support, the amount is meant to cover the children's expenses until they reach a certain age. However, it's possible that your ex-spouse could use up the money faster than expected, leaving him or her short on the funds needed to care for the children. This could result in you going to court again, as he or she campaigns for more money. This is a difficult situation for you because you'll already feel as though you've given enough, but fighting your spouse's request could appear to be a denial of support for your kids.


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Getting Through Your Divorce and on With Your Life

Going through a divorce? I know how you might feel – alone, stressed out, and probably even a little sad due to the loss of the life you have always known. Whether you have children or not, you might even feel a little guilty about the break down of your relationship. But I'm here to tell you that a divorce is not the end of the world. In fact, once you get used to the idea and start to move on with your life, you may find just as much, if not more, happiness than you ever had while you were married! Getting through the proceedings of your divorce in a dignified manner is the first step, and hopefully this website will give you the insight, support, and motivation you need to get through the process as painlessly as possible.

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