Is your child talented above and beyond his or her peers? Is s/he musically gifted, an exceptional athlete, or a whizbang student able to learn things much earlier than classmates? These are all great things and most parents want their children to take full advantage of their superior skills or abilities. But music lessons, away sports tournaments, and even college courses during high school are very expensive, and cost parents money whether they’re married or not.

Both parents are legally obligated to provide financial support for their children in many forms.  Whether the parties negotiate an agreement or a Judge imposes one, the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines help most New Jersey couples figure out the support figure. The Guidelines use an economic formula that includes both parents’ incomes, tax withholding’s, and percentage of time the child spends overnight at each home, medical insurance premiums for the child, and employment-related day care, and related items.

The Child Support Guidelines do NOT include items that are impossible to estimate (such as unreimbursed healthcare expenses) or only wealthier households typically pay (such as summer camps, private school, cars, and car insurance).

In 2017, Judge Jones of the Ocean County Superior Court decided that the Family Court has the discretion to add to Guidelines support when a child is considered gifted. The case involved two parents of a 13-year-old daughter whom the judge called Julie (not her real name). The mother had primary physical custody and the father exercised frequent parenting time.

Julie was intensely interested in acting and both parents encouraged her, but they didn’t agree on who should pay the extra costs involved in furthering Julie’s acting talents. The father took the position his daughter’s acting costs were already included in his weekly $113 child support payments. The mother said that amount was needed just for Julie’s basic needs. She asked the court to increase support to require the father to cover half of the daughter’s expenses related to her acting.

Judge Jones ruled that:

• Most of the time the costs for a child’s extra-curricular activities are included in basic child support when using the Child Support Guidelines to calculate child support payments.
• The Guidelines allow for deviation in various situations, one of them being a child’s “giftedness.”
• Academics, athletics, technology, or the arts could be areas of “giftedness”, and there could be other areas as well.
• If the Family Court finds a child is gifted, then whatever additional funds one parent uses to foster the child’s gift must be economically reasonable and both parents’ financial situations should be considered.

“Giftedness” is very subjective, and Judge Jones stated each case must be evaluated on its own facts. The judge based his decision on impressions created when he interviewed the child.  He decided she was gifted, because of her “inherently extraordinary drive, desire, focus and commitment.” Judge Jones stressed his ruling wouldn’t apply to cover recreational costs for just any activity a child likes.

The Family Court ruled in the mother’s favor, deciding that unless the parties agreed to a different amount, each would pay $250 each year to cover the expenses for Julie’s acting activities.

The two takeaways from this case are:

• The State’s Child Support Guidelines may just be the start when a child is deemed genuinely gifted by a court, and as a result needs additional expenses to support those skills or abilities.
• Parents must do their very best to try to work out disputes without going to court. At issue was $500 in additional costs each year or a little more than another $20/month for each parent. If both parents had attorneys in this case, that amount would easily be spent in less than an hour in legal fees. The two parents may have missed more than $500 in time away from work on this issue. When it comes to negotiations, parties literally cannot afford to be penny wise and pound foolish.

Child support payments, calculations, and fact-based variations can present a complex puzzle during a divorce or a separation of those never married, but with kids.  Experienced matrimonial attorneys  can positively affect negotiations and court outcomes during what may be a long and arduous process. To get started, call the Central Jersey law offices of Hanan M. Isaacs, P.C., at 609-683-7400, or contact us online, for a near-term reduced fee initial consultation.  We will listen to your facts, explain the law, and guide you on the best pathways to economic and social justice.  Call now.  You will be glad you did.