One thing that you noticed as you began your divorce is that the court wants you to decide on child support. You and your spouse are both fairly well off, and you’ve been fortunate to have great careers or independent assets. In your mind, it doesn’t make sense to have child support sent to either parent. Both of you make plenty of money and have the ability to raise your child without any financial strain.
Child support still serves a purpose, however. Child support is about more than just supporting your child’s daily needs. If you are going to be the main caregiver, that support can make it easier for you to provide your child the standard of living that they would have enjoyed if you and your spouse hadn’t split. If you don’t need the money to help cover the additional household expenses that come along with a child, you may use it to provide your child with “extras” they might not otherwise have, like additional tutors, music lessons, sports equipment and other things.
If you and your spouse agree that child support isn’t necessary, something else you might do is to set up a college fund for your child. The parent who would ordinarily pay support can pay that money to the fund, instead. You could also set up a trust or create another arrangement so that those funds will eventually go to your child directly.
While you can usually agree that child support isn’t needed and may be able to have it waived, this is a good opportunity to set up extra savings for your child. That’s just one option that your attorney can help you with if you decide to save for your child’s future with child support payments.