Last Updated on March 20, 2026 by Distance Parent
How travel costs factor into child support varies by state. Your individual case might also include travel costs in child support in a way that is not typical for your state. As long-distance parenting arrangements become more common, travel costs are increasingly factored into child support calculations.
Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. For guidance specific to your situation, consult a qualified family law attorney.
In some cases, the parenting plan itself addresses travel costs directly with a clause requiring both parents to split expenses; an arrangement that can be unique to the individual case rather than standard for the state. California, for example, includes the cost of travel as a credit in the child support calculation.
The Calculation
Each parent lists their income, regular living expenses, and any unique expenses they pay for the child, such as child care and travel. Those figures are combined to produce a percentage for each parent plus any special expenses, which is then adjusted by each parent’s percentage of parenting time. Parenting time is determined by the annual visitation schedule.
The exact calculation varies by state, and the specifics matter less than understanding how travel costs fit into it. Income, day-to-day expenses, extra expenses for the child, and parenting time are the core ingredients in most states.
At the end of the calculation, child support is intended to cover half of the child’s expenses, up to the paying parent’s financial capacity.
The Two Ways Travel Costs Factor Into Child Support
When both parents split travel costs equally, they each have the same credit amount, which makes it a wash; travel does not affect the child support calculation in that case.
When travel costs are not split, the parent who pays for travel will have a credit that the other parent does not. If the parent with the credit is the long-distance parent, child support will be lower than it would be without that credit.
Keeping Travel Expenses Separate From Child Support
A question that comes up regularly looks like this: I pay $6,000 in child support a year and $1,200 a year in travel for the child. Why can I not just pay $4,800 in child support instead?
If your parenting plan includes a clause that both parents split travel costs, that arrangement effectively achieves a similar result. However, unilaterally deducting travel costs from child support will cause your child support balance to fall short. Your co-parent could take you to court for back child support. With thorough record keeping, you might win that case, but the risk is real, and it is better to keep travel expenses and child support entirely separate.
Use an expense-tracking spreadsheet to keep accurate records of travel expenses, separate from child support payments.
If you do not have a travel cost-sharing clause in your parenting plan, travel costs are simply one factor among several in the child support calculation. The other factors are each parent’s income, day-to-day expenses, and the percentage of parenting time.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are two ways. First, indirectly, a clause in your court order specifying that both parents split travel expenses evenly reduces the overall expense burden for both parents and has no effect on child support. Second, in states where travel expenses are part of the child support calculation, the parent who pays for travel receives a credit on their side of the equation, reducing their child support obligation accordingly.
No. Unilaterally deducting travel expenses from child support will cause your balance to fall short, and your co-parent could take you to court for back child support. Travel expenses and child support should always be tracked and paid separately.
No. How travel costs factor into child support varies significantly by state. Some states include travel as a credit in the child support calculation. Others do not address it at all, leaving it to be negotiated between the parents and documented in the parenting plan.
The most straightforward approach is a clause in your parenting plan specifying that both parents split travel expenses evenly up to a defined amount. This removes ambiguity, reduces conflict, and in states where travel is part of the child support calculation, creates a wash that keeps child support unaffected.
Parenting time, the percentage of days the child spends with each parent annually, is one of the primary factors in child support calculations in most states. For long-distance parents whose parenting time percentage may be lower than 50%, this is an important consideration.
Really good idea! I never even thought about that and we’re paying alot for travel!
Hey Carrie,
Thanks for all your posts! My DH and I are in our first year of dealing with long distance childhood. She is 7 and moved to GA. We split the cost of travel also. She also doesn’t get any child support because DH doesn’t get to claim her on taxes anymore. Something I would change if I could go back again, but oh well.
It is hardest to deal with peoples reactions to our situations. Their automatic assumption of laziness, or of not caring. When in fact, we are trying to finish school and get our lives on track. It’s a hard situation all around.
So I’m currently going through a custody battle with my son’s mother who decided that she wanted to parent our son after placing him in foster care for two months to be adopted, but not until I filed for sole custody of our son. Once I filed and she was served, she went and took him back from the family that wanted to adopt him. Needless to say that she now has our son and the custody issues are now between mother and I. My hope is to establish what custody and visitation I can at this time(50/50) but planning to move back to my home state to be closer to my family and reset roots there with the hopes of my son knowing the other side of his family. The mother is not very willing to do what is best for our son( will not allow any overnights nor will she meet halfway or share burden of travel and we currently live hour 1/2 away) Any insight? anything I can do at the time of moving I can do within the courts that will protect my rights as a father and still be able to be in another state and still see my son? Somebody help.
Oh one other thing, once I decide to to move (which is mid year) I know at that time if there is 50/50 custody and visitation established it would have to be modified. any suggestions as to what is appropriate to ask for as a court order for visitation being that I would soon be living out of state?