ARTICLES

Reduction of Child Support for Long Distance Visitation

Courts sometimes consider (but are not required to consider) the parenting schedule; that is, how much time the children spend with each parent, in establishing the child support obligation. In some cases, a non-custodial parent with a robust parenting schedule (but not necessarily 50/50) may receive a reduction in the amount of child support he or she is required to pay.¹ A reduction is not always guaranteed, however, and sometimes are denied even when the visitation schedule is more robust than usual.²

In cases where the non-custodial parent lives far away or in another state, some cases say that the court should reduce the child support obligation to help offset the costs of travel.³ Other cases say that the child support obligation maybe reduced – or eliminated – for the period of time that the child lives with the non-custodial parent⁴ but this is not always the case.⁵

question
name
phone