Many challenges arise when exes must put their heads together to devise a way to divide shared parenting expenses. They must now communicate and agree over money matters while on less-than-favorable (or zero) speaking terms.
Additionally, what was once a united income pot has been split. Finally, a co-parent doesn’t have to account for how they use child support money which could naturally lead to suspicions and hostilities.
The most vital thing co-parents should do to make their finances easier is download a shared parenting app (sometimes called a child support app or co-parenting app). These apps make the financial part of co-parenting simple.
There are four ways the app helps divorced co-parents: • Requesting and paying money to the other parent is easy. • Communications are professional and businesslike, with little need for talking or texting.
• Transparency keeps everyone updated and honest – co-parents upload pictures of bills and receipts for reimbursement. • Financial information is securely stored within the app, making it easy to keep track of money-related matters for personal and legal reasons.
In terms of categories, here are the five main spending buckets to account for: • Taxes • Education • Insurance • Extracurriculars • Clothing and Miscellaneous
Whether court-ordered or co-parent negotiated, child support only covers necessities. The waters become muddy and solutions less apparent when the inevitable but variable additional expenses of raising children pop up. That's why it's important to break down expenses into buckets.
It’s also helpful for co-parents to break discuss the following four aspects: • How they’ll define necessities that go above and beyond primary child support funding • The changing needs of their children • Who pays whom • With what frequency they’ll share bills and reimburse payments