Expense report tells a better support story

Limited assets set aside for legal expenses make mediation a first-consideration.

When I sat down with one couple, it was clear to me that they each had a new household to support without toting up the cost. Food, clothes, rent, car payments, utilities and each child's iPhone. Child support? Well, after figuring out a realistic budget on each of their incomes, scrimping and cutting corners became the watchwords of the day over a misbegotten belief that one spouse needed to kick in $800 a month child support.

It took a while for the couple to realize their reduced monthly income would require sacrifices. And, importantly, any shift in direction to litigate their way to child support might not succeed, while racking up even greater legal expenses.

Why mediation works so well in this situation:

Both parents agreed to forgo child support to the other, and each agreed to split visitation evenly because the parenting time was so equally divided.

The rest of the process fell in place in shortly thereafter. And their legal bill was vastly less than in a contentious allocation of responsibilities/support battle. Money better spent on braces and skating lessons, and lives enjoying new opportunities.

-Cindy K. Campbell