Reimbursement of Child Support

**nevaeh2tomorrow** · 04-14-2011, 01:43 AM

My question involves child support in the State of: Washington

I am the primary caregiver of our daughter. Her father has her every other weekend and for a few hours one day a week. He doesn't always see her on the week day visit. He pays $500.00 a month in child support. Recently I found out that I would need to go out of town on a Monday morning and would return Saturday afternoon. I asked her father if he would like to keep her for these 6 days that I was going to be gone.

He said yes he would but he would have to check with his "roommate" (girlfriend). Later he called me and left a message saying that since our combined child support is $1000./mo that he has calculated that I would need to pay him $200.00 for those 6 days as a reimbursement in child support. He came to this by calculating 1000. divided by 30 days x 6 days. He said that if I didnt agree to this then I would have to make other arrangements.

I was planning to send some money with her to help pay for her school lunches while I was gone but it wasn't going to be $200.

Does his request seem reasonable?

Am I required to reimburse child support to him for when I have to go out of town? And if I am - is it really calculated based on the $1000. or the $500. that he pays?

there is some background to this and that is that he had stopped paying child support a couple of years ago when he moved in with his "roommate". He took me to court to have his child support reduced and the court denied it. He continued to not pay until the Judge said he would put him in jail. He then began paying again about 4 months ago. He is in arrears of about $8000. +/- which he is making up with $50.00 a month added to his current child support. I know he is angry over the amount of child support he is paying.

I have a 25 year old son that lives with me and my daughter can stay home with him while I am gone but I really just thought that her father would like to have her for the time I have to be out of town.

Thank you

**Dogmatique** · 04-14-2011, 02:15 AM

Dad and/or his girlfriend are being complete asses about this. Seriously. No decent parent would even THINK of demanding "reimbursement" like that - they'd just appreciate the time spent with the child, for heaven's sake!

But, you do have to make a choice here. Capitulate, or leave her with your son. Or, offer him $500 divided by 30 days...times 6. I figured it to about $100.

You might want to remind him that by HIS calculations, he should be paying you quite a bit more in child support for the times YOU have her....

Oh, one more thing. By statute, he can't unilaterally decide this issue.