Legal Question in Family Law in Maryland

Re: Child support and responsibility

A custodial parent can always seek a modification of a child support order if a change in circumstances can justify it. Such changes would include changes in the incomes of the parents, or unanticipated increases in the needs of the child. From your brief description of the facts in your case, it doesn't sound like the mother would be able to justify an increase just because she moved and didn't budget properly for clothes. However, since the father is somehow getting away with not contributing anything per the Guidelines, a court might well impose an amount based on income. You must remember that support is for the benefit of the child, not the mother. The visitation situation, by the way, has little to do with support.

Re: Child support and responsibility

A parent can file for child support after asking for none in a divorce proceeding. In the eyes of the law the parent has no right to give up support which is in fact the right of the child. I would not advise sending clothes instead of child support money, since the clothes would count as a gift and would have no effect on the amount of child support which the court might order. Of course if you want to make a gift to the children in addition to contributing to their support based on a court order there is nothing wrong with that, but don't expect to have dollar amount of support reduced as a result of the gift.