Child support was designed so that the parent who has kids living with them is able to provide a standard of living that is similar to the standard the children experienced when living with both parents. While the primary goal of child support is to ensure children have food, clothing and shelter via funds from the parent not living with children, the money is not always used this way.
Child support can be applied to things such as rent or a mortgage, utilities and purchasing items for a household related to its upkeep. It is specifically supposed to be used for things like school supplies, medical expenses and clothing.
Unfortunately, child support money is often used for things that do not fall under these categories. Examples of misuse of child support include using the funds to pay for clothing for a parent, dining out or going on vacations without children as well as the purchase of tobacco, alcohol or other things that clearly do not benefit children.
When a couple with children splits up, it is common for one individual to be required to pay child support to the parent that the children live with. Child support can be ordered whether a couple was married or not. If the parent who is obligated to provide support does not do so, it can put the parent with custody in a difficult financial situation. Custodial parents have a variety of legal methods available to them to help pressure a parent to pay child support, including having their wages garnished, and a lawyer could explain to a person what options may be available to them.