When Georgia parents divorce, the resulting child custody structure usually places shared children in the primary care of one parent, with the other given visitation rights and obligated to contribute to the financial needs of their child or children. Child support can quickly become an issue of debate between former spouses. This can result in negative patterns of communication, and can leave children caught in the middle of parents who continue to argue, even after the marriage has ended.
One company aims to improve the way that parents manage child support issues through a new technological application. The program is known as SupportPay, and allows both parties to share information concerning child support in a way that is neutral, without the need for face-to-face interactions on the matter. This could help defuse tensions surrounding child support payments and expenditures, which can help parents to focus on the needs of their children.
The program allows the parent who is paying child support to upload those payments to the system. If a payment is delayed, the receiving parent can send a reminder message through the system. For the parent who is receiving child support, SupportPay allows them the ability to upload receipts and invoices for expenditures related to the needs of their children. This gives the paying party the ability to see that his or her payments are being put to use as intended.
This program is a great tool for divorced parents who are unable to see eye-to-eye on child support matters. By using the system to track child support payments and expenses, former spouses who are co-parenting can gain the information they want and need, without having to have a direct interaction with each other. The system also provides a means of tracking payments and expenses, which could come in handy if the matter ever goes before a Georgia family court.
Source: Xconomy, Using Tech to De-Stress Child Support, Bernadette Tansey, Nov. 5, 2013