Lump-Sum Child Support is a Bad Idea
Wednesday / May 23, 2007
Think you can pay once and for all? Think again.
Most of us think of child support as Wikipedia does - that child
support is periodic payments of money from the
noncustodial parent to the custodial parent for
the support of a child. But child support can be
lump-sum as well as periodic. The mistake that
noncustodial parents make is thinking that if
they pay lump-sum child support, they can never
be required to pay again.
A story from the United States Territory of Guam sets out what can happen to the noncustodial parent who pays lump-sum child support. A father and mother entered into a contract that the father would pay $35,000 in lump-sum child support. The mother agreed that she would not ask for more child support later. Sure enough, a few years later, the mother sued the father for additional child support. The judge threw out the agreement. He said it was against public policy because not in the children's best interest: A mother has no power to contract away her children's right to receive child support.
There is no good reason to pay lump-sum child support. The father who agrees to pay it will likely find himself in court again. Also, fathers who pay child support often complain about how the child-support money is spent. If that is a concern, why would a father ever pay the mother a large sum of money all at once? Lump-sum child support is a bad idea.
A story from the United States Territory of Guam sets out what can happen to the noncustodial parent who pays lump-sum child support. A father and mother entered into a contract that the father would pay $35,000 in lump-sum child support. The mother agreed that she would not ask for more child support later. Sure enough, a few years later, the mother sued the father for additional child support. The judge threw out the agreement. He said it was against public policy because not in the children's best interest: A mother has no power to contract away her children's right to receive child support.
There is no good reason to pay lump-sum child support. The father who agrees to pay it will likely find himself in court again. Also, fathers who pay child support often complain about how the child-support money is spent. If that is a concern, why would a father ever pay the mother a large sum of money all at once? Lump-sum child support is a bad idea.
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