Saint Lucie County Legal Issues Blog

If a Floridian ever spends much time around a party who pays an ex-spouse child support, it is likely that at one point or another there has been mention of some disapproval in the way the money is spent. However, the receiving party may not always be in the wrong in what he or she chooses to purchase or pay for with child support funds.

It is a common misconception that child support monies are only meant to cover food and clothing. In reality, there are multiple other expenses that properly caring for a child entails. Just as it should be used for basic necessities, child support can and should be used for these additional expenses as well.

The amount of time a child spends with a parent is known as "parenting time" and it is calculated based on the amount of overnight visits a child spends with a parent within a 365 day period. Those nights are broken down into a percentage. For example, if a child spends 80 nights out of a year with one parent, then that parent maintains 22 percent parenting time.

A parenting pattern matters in the calculations of child support. If an original custody agreement only allowed a child 25 overnight visits a year with a parent, but in actuality the child had progressed to staying 80 nights a year, then child support could be recalculated. The basis for recalculation is the assumption that if a child is spending more time with a parent, then that parent is likely incurring more expenses in everyday needs. Regardless of an initially entered custody plan, a court can take into consideration an actual parenting pattern as it presently exists.

The divorce announcement of Amazon founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, and wife, MacKenzie Bezos, was made via Twitter on Wednesday, Jan. 2. And, it likely shocked many Florida residents as the couple are considered to be the richest in the world, with Jeff Bezos having an estimated worth of over $137 billion. MacKenzie Bezos was one of the first employees at Amazon. However, she and her husband met prior to the Amazon start-up at a hedge fund and technology development firm by the name of D.E. Shaw, where Jeff was her boss.

It is said that the Amazon business plan was created by the couple during a cross-country drive from New York to Seattle. In addition to the global empire, MacKenzie Bezos is also a novelist. Her writings include Traps and The Testing of Luther Albright.

More often than not, a step-parent and step-child relationship is completely severed when spouses decide to get a divorce. However, there are cases where the families have lived blended for a number of years, and the step-parent has played a significant role in a child's upbringing. In these situations, there can exist a close bond between the two, resulting in great emotional distress to a child when the parties split. So who gets to decide whether that relationship will continue?

If the child of legal age and considered an adult, then it is his or her decision to continue the relationship. If the child is still a minor, the decision is at the discretion of the court, and step-parent rights are very limited. According to a Supreme Court ruling, biological parents have a "fundamental right to make decisions concerning the care, custody, and control" of their children, including who has access to them.