Daycare Expenses

[BSTDE]

I pay 65% of all work related daycare expenses incurred by my ex on behalf of our child. First of all she sends me copies of receipts and the receipts have no daycare name or signature on them from the daycare so I don’t even know if they are legit. For all I know she went and bought a receipt book and makes them out herself. Some weeks I don’t even get a physical copy, instead she sends me an email stating what I owe. Shouldn’t I be receiving actual receipts and not copies? Second, the daycare has field trips that they go on during daycare but these field trip expenses are separate and not included in the normal daycare that i pay. She says that these are a daycare expense and that I’m responsible for 65% of it and wants me to reimburse her. Wouldn’t those costs be part of the “Extracurricular Activity Expense” which she is responsible for?

This is what our court documents state:
Daycare.
“Defendant (me) Shall pay to Plaintiff sixty-five percent (65%) of all work-related daycare expenses incurred by Plaintiff on behalf of the minor child. Plaintiff shall provide receipts from the daycare provider itself on the first and fifteenth of each month to the defendant, evidencing the daycare expenditures for the previous two week period, and defendant shall thereafter make direct payments to Plaintiff within fourteen days of his obtaining physical possession of said receipts.

Extracurricular Activity Expense:
“The custodial parent is responsible for 100% of any extracurricular activity, or any other day to day expenses related to the care of the minor children.”

[Bubba Seal]

Have you ever thought of just paying direct to the daycare your share of expenses, thats what I always did, so there wasnt any doubt in my mind about it.

Personally I wouldnt consider a field trip during day care as extra, its just part of daycare, and if you dont pay it then your child will feel excluded if they dont get to participate. And how often do they take field trips? If she is asking for some extra money on that every week then I would not like it, but the cure for you is to be more involved with the daycare center itself, and find out from them, not the ex.

Just my 2 cents, Good Luck

[Trevor]

I have never paid anything to my X without a receipt. If there is no receipt, who's to say she didn't have her parents care for the kids that week? [Rhet.] Court order is clear on receipts. No receipt, no reimbursement. If it's not a professional day care, the receipts could be easily faked. Start a dialogue with the day care, maybe give them SASE so they can mail you a receipt each week.

[Chosen2Dad]

I agree with Bubba..they should be able to work out the arrangement. As long as they get their full pay, they don't care. When I get to that part of my divorce/post-divorce, I will be writing a separate check directly. And keep track of any other shared expenses between the NJ and I.

[rjohnalone12]

I did this dance myself till the daycare contacted me looking for payments I had given to her. Once I started paying the daycare directly end of problem.