Are you wondering if you can make cash payments for your child support obligation? Hi, I’m Marie Drake of The Drake Law Firm. And today I’m going to talk to you about payments for child support obligations.
The basic answer is yes, you can pay your child support in cash, but I’m going to give you a few reasons why that’s not a great idea. So the first one is that how do you keep a record? Is your ex-spouse or your ex-partner who’s receiving the cash giving you a receipt? Is there some sort of proof that you’re giving him or her this cash payment? And that’s important. If you are going to pay in cash, make sure that you have a record of the exact amount and the exact date you’ve given those payments to your ex-spouse or partner. It’s really important to have a record. And you’re going to need possibly, hopefully you won’t, some sort of proof for court to see that you’ve made those payments on time and in the correct amounts. What we recommend though, is to pay your child support in a much more traceable way, such as an eCheck, direct deposit, or, I think this is a very good way, is to simply pay it through the family support registry. That way, there’s a record that’s easily obtainable at any point in time. So consider paying your child support in a way that’s traceable. And that shows that you are doing it on time in the right amounts every month.
If you insist on paying cash for your child support payments every month, because, I don’t know you’re a bookie, you’re part of the underworld, you’re a drug dealer, or you’re 150 years old and lived through the depression, don’t trust banks, and store all of your cash in your mattress, then make sure and get some sort of receipt. You can have a receipt by taking a time-stamped photo of the cash you’re handing over to your ex-spouse or partner, or you can actually buy a little receipt book at OfficeMax or Office Depot and create a receipt. But you might want to have your ex-spouse or partner initial that because, you know, anybody could go in and create a fake receipt book. So don’t do that, follow the law. And if you can, use banks.
So to answer your question, can I pay my child support with cash? The answer is technically yes. Is it a good idea? No, that’s a strong no for me. If you have any questions, though, about your child support amount, your payment, how to pay, and what to pay with, give us a call here at The Drake Law Firm. We’re standing by and we’re ready to answer all of your child support related questions.
