Attorney
Do you pay (or receive) child support?
New law changes access to child care records. Important aid to those paying (or receiving) child support.
A new law takes effect on July 1, 2020 which allows either parent access to their child’s day care records. Soon, both parents will have access to their child’s day care records. Currently, the law says either parent shall have access to the child’s records relating to academic and health care only. The change adds “child day care center or family day home” to the records that either parent can obtain. And there are special definitions of “child day care center” and “family day home”. See Va. Code 20-124.6 access to records, and see Va. Code 63.2-100 for definitions of these phrases.
Why is this important? In calculating child support, the law says “[a]ny child-care costs incurred on behalf of the child or children due to employment of the custodial parent shall be added to the basic child support obligation.” Va Code Sec. 20-108.2. This means the non custodial parent has to pay extra child support each month because of the day care costs paid by the other parent. With this change to the code, the noncustodial parent is entitled to obtain the actual child care costs, directly from the day care provider at any time. Also, the day care provider can be ordered to come to court with all the records, including the day care license and bank statements showing actual payments.
The parent who is going to be paying child support can now obtain the day care bills and records directly from the day care provider. And these records can also be obtained in the future, even after the trial.