Is It Advisable To Pay Child Support In Cash?
It is each parent’s duty to support his or her child(ren) financially, and during a divorce, a formula is utilized which calculates the child support obligation for one of the parents considering all of the statutory factors such as incomes, timesharing, insurance costs, and other similar factors. There are instances where parents have equal timesharing and equal incomes and child support is essentially zero, though that is not often the case.
In Florida, there are various methods of making child support payments. Sometimes, parents who are obligated to pay child support wonder how they should make payments. If you are obligated to pay child support, you might be wondering which is the best method to use when paying child support.
So, what is the best method to use when paying child support in Florida? You should pay child support according to the court order or agreement. In the event that the court order does not specify which method of payment you should use, it is advisable that you pay using a traceable and provable method. You should also ensure that you always pay child support on time.
As a general rule, in Florida, parents are typically required to pay child support via the State of Florida Depository. There is an online portal which allows a parent to make payments via the portal and which provides receipts and keeps a record of the payments. This is the most reliable and easy method of paying child support when the depository is involved.
Can You Pay Child Support in Cash?
Whether or not you can pay cash for child support is dependent on certain things. You need to ask yourself, what payment method does the child support order say you should use? If the court order specifies a payment method that is not the cash method, you cannot pay child support in cash. However, if the court order does not mention the payment method to be used when making child support payments, you and your child’s other parent can decide how payments should be made. For example, you could decide that cash, money order, or direct deposit works for you. However, choosing to pay child support in cash can lead to disputes regarding child support payments.
The main problem with paying child support in cash is that you cannot prove that you made cash payments unless you maintain your own proof. The recipient might claim that you did not make payments. If you don’t have your well-maintained proof of payment, you might end up paying child support twice if the other parent requests the court for an award of back child support. Considering how tough the economy is, you don’t want that to happen. In sum, paying child support via cash is almost never a good idea. If an online payment option is not available, bank transfers or writing checks are good options. There is a record of these transactions and payments can always be proven. Beware of using money orders as getting copies of cashed money orders is very expensive, so proving payments can cost hundreds of dollars or more. In sum, avoid money orders and avoid cash.
Contact a Jacksonville Child Support Lawyer
If you are not sure about what method of payment you should use when making child support payments, you should speak with an attorney. Contact one of our Jacksonville child support lawyers at the Lasky Law Firm to discuss your options.
