By Leigh Sellers
Back-to-school Means Te Return of Morning Rituals
bus. We are faced with the ever-present back to school sales, the tax free weekend, school supply drives and the search for the perfect wardrobe, backpack and lunch box. If you are sending one off to college, the “list” is even longer. Back to school is a budget buster for most parents. I pulled a few back –to-school lists at Wal-Mart for local elementary and middle schools in my area. Even using the big sales advertised during the Tax Free Weekend, the average costs for the general supplies exceeded $70 for elementary and $150 for middle school.
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This list did not include backpacks, lunch boxes or special books and supplies that the students don’t learn about until they get to their first day of class. High school supplies are even more costly. Add the annual drives for PTSO member- ships, booster clubs, school pictures, yearbooks, and athletic fees, teacher appreciation funds, field trips and a family can be very overwhelmed with extra expenses for the first few months
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ack-to-school means the return of morning rituals, the return of morning traffic and the ever-familiar yellow school
of school. But if you are a separated or divorced parent, it can prove to be an even larger ordeal.
This time of year I receive a large amount of questions about back to school costs and child support. Many clients want to know if their children’s other parent must help with the costs, and many clients call and ask if they are required to pay in addition to the child support they pro- vide. Child support in most circumstances is calculated by the North Carolina Child Support Guidelines. The guidelines pro- vide a calculation to share the income between the two households based on income and the amount of time the chil- dren spend with each parent.
Health insurance, health care costs over $250 a year, and work related child sup- port is considered outside of the basic child support. But the guidelines are silent as to extracurricular expenses, camps, and school costs. Most parents want to share the care and expenses of their children. Some parents don’t have a great deal of discretionary income after a separation. But sometimes, the parents are
legal
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