Child Support

Financial awards for higher education are sometimes included in an order to pay support but are not meant to substitute for primary support. Education awards are common in families in which children are expected and able to complete postsecondary coursework. Courts have denied awards for tuition, for lessons, and for other education-related expenses when those expenses are deemed unnecessary.

A responsibility to provide HEALTH CARE is occasionally clarified in orders for support, especially when one or both parents have access to an employer-provided health plan. In the early 1990s, a total of 25 million children had no employer-provided insurance, and 8.4 million had no coverage at all. Nevertheless, also in the early 1990s, a majority of support orders lacked provisions regarding HEALTH INSURANCE.

An obligor may be required to maintain a life insurance policy naming the child or guardian as beneficiary.