Lawyers Manual - Unified Court System

158 Judy Reichler
payment pending a determination of reasonableness. This way the custodial
parent — who must, in most instances, pay the doctor’s bill at the time of
treatment — will not always be the one who is without the money while the
court makes its decision.
Child Care Costs
The CSSA also requires the court to order the noncustodial parent to pay a
pro rata share of the reasonable child care expenses incurred by the custodial
parent while she is working or in school. This amount must be added to the
child support amount determined through the percentages and must be paid to
the custodial parent.
Optional Additional Amounts
After determining if there are any mandatory additions, the court has
discretion to make additional orders.
Child Care Costs
The court may apportion reasonable child care expenses between the
parents where it is determined that the custodial parent is seeking work and
incurs such expenses as a result.
Education of the Children
The CSSA directs the court to determine whether or not it would be
appropriate for the child to receive — presently or in the future — post-secondary,
private, special or enriched education. This section leaves a determination of
appropriateness to the discretion of the court, which will look at several factors,
including (a) the educational background of the parents, (b) the child’s academic
ability, and (c) the parent’s financial ability to provide the necessary funds.
Life Insurance
The court may order a party to purchase, maintain, or assign a policy of
accident or life insurance on the life of either party and, in the case of life
insurance, to designate the persons on whose behalf the petition is brought as
irrevocable beneficiaries.
Additional Support from Non-Recurring Payments
In addition to the basic child support amount, the court may allocate a
portion of any non-recurring payments from extraordinary sources a parent is
receiving, or may be entitled to receive. Since payment from these sources isn’t
made on a regular basis, they are easy to overlook. The sources can include such