Legal Question in Family Law in Washington
Child leaving country for Youth Exchange- Do I still pay child support
My daughter is leaving the country for a 1-year youth exchange program. I want to modify my support to zero and pay for half of this program. My ex-wife disagrees and had her attorney contact me threatening to make me appear in court and have me fined for supposedly threatening not to let her go if support is not modified. Why would I have to pay child support to her if she is living with other families in another country and being cared for by them and is it possible to have me fined in court for asking for a modification?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Child leaving country for Youth Exchange- Do I still pay child support
Yours is an unusual situation. It is not provided for or anticipated in the child support guidelines.
It would be hard to imagine a situation where you would not get some credit against your current support. The final decision is entirely in the discretion of the judge that hears your case. However, the mother's monthly expenses of keeping a household available for the daughter do not go away in the year she is gone. The danger is that by offering to pay one-half of the trip expenses you might end up paying more each month because the credit you get would not be enough to offset the additional cost of one-half of the trip expenses.
Would you not save money by just refusing to contribute to the trip expense if you have to continue to pay monthly child support?
Contact me if you have further questions.
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