"Lvnsurpriseaz" u37991@uwe wrote in message news:7935511ed41be@uwe...
Bob,

I appreciate what you are saying. It is regarding baseball tournaments
which
cost anywhere from $40 - $70. I feel that he should pay for the
tournament
fee if he wants his son to play in a tournament on his weekend. The thing
is
the father tries everyway possible to get out of paying for his
responsibilities during the time he has visitation time. The child is 16
yrs
old and believe me the childs food bill is almost more than his child
support!
!!!!! LOL

Here's an NCP father's perspective - An extra $40-70 is a large amount. The
CP has the legal responsibility to make decisions for a minor child
regarding living arrangements, religious training, education, and medical
treatments. As long as you make these decisions unilaterally you should pay
for them. Even if the child's father approves of this activity that doesn't
mean he should pay for it. Baseball tournaments are dictated by where the
child lives and are an extracurricular activity related to education.

I had some similar experiences. My ex would send the children over and tell
me I needed to take them to soccer/basketball/baseball sign ups. I always
insisted she give me a check, or send a check with the children, to cover
the sign-up expenses.

The same happened with birthday parties. I'd pick up the children and she
would inform me I needed to take them to a friend's birthday party. That
meant I needed to buy the birthday present for them to take to the party.

I have always recommended to NCP's who come on this group to take a
hard-nosed stance and insist the CP pay for all these miscellaneous
expenses. The CP's complain the fathers won't pay for "extras" but the CS
awards are predicated on child rearing expenditures that include all child
related expenses so there are no extras. Well there are extras the NCP pays
but those extras are the visitation related expenses he voluntarily chooses
to make.