Paying Child Support Before It's Ordered By a Court

[shellyboop30]

My question involves a child custody case from the State of: california

if the non custodial parent is givng custodial parent money here in there before the court date can that be used to delete some of the back pay owed ?

[Dogmatique]

Sometimes.

But more often than not it is considered a "gift".

The paying parent is usually best advised to hold on to the money so that when child support is established if there are any arrears (and there's usually at least a nominal amount), they can be paid off immediately.

[Mr. Knowitall]

If both parties agree that the payment was for child support, it's generally not hard to get credit. The issues arise when the parent receiving the money says that it was for something else, or when the parent paying the money doesn't pay it directly to the other parent then tries to claim that payments (e.g., to the children), gifts or other items were "support".