Can I get Visitation Credit for Child Support?

[Shell711]

Since my divorce in April 2004, my 2 children have come to visit me in Delaware (from Tampa) for the entire summer and alternate holidays. For example, every year they come as soon as school lets out for the summer and stay with me until a few days before the new school year resumes....and at Christmas time the same thing. I have always accumulated child support arrears for these time frames because I refuse to send my ex child support payments if I am the one caring for the children fulltime during those months.
Do I have the right to file for visitation credit (to apply towards arrears) for the months they are and have been in my care alone? If so, can you please tell me how to go about doing this? Thank you

[Attorney Dawn Jackson]

You are not entitled to receive any kind of "visitation" credit when the children are in your care and so you will not be able to change the amount of arrears that you owe. The initial child support calculation includes the amount of overnights that each parent spends with the children, so the extended time the children are spending with you in Delaware have already been calculated into the monthly amount that you are ordered to pay. Florida’s child support statute was recently modified and is more sensitive to the number of overnights that you have your children. Try our online child support Calculator to see if your support amount changes under the new law. You may be eligible for modifying your current order if the new amount will differ by $50 or 15%, whichever is greater.