Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Child Support
How does a Florida family court judge decide who pays for a child’s extracurricular activities in a Florida child support case? There are multiple ways extracurricular expenses can be handled in a Florida parenting plan. This was an issue in the case Webking v. Webking, 1D2023-0771 (Fla. 1st DCA December 31, 2025).
In this divorce case, the husband was ordered to pay child support to the mother, and he was ordered to pay 60% of the cost of the children’s extracurricular activities. The husband argued the trial court erred where it did not make a finding of his ability to pay the child support amount awarded, and that the provision regarding extracurricular activities would subject him to paying for activities in which the wife unilaterally enrolled the children without regard to his ability to contribute.
The appellate court agreed with the husband on the child support amount, holding “We reverse the final judgment as to the trial court’s awards of child support and retroactive child support due to its failure to make the required finding that the Father has the ability to pay the ordered support. See Edwards v. Sanders, 622 So. 2d 587, 588 (Fla. 1st DCA 1993) (‘Because the trial court failed to find that appellant has a present ability to pay the child support awarded, the trial court’s order must be reversed.’); Tinoco v. Lugo, 342 So. 3d 845, 850–51 (Fla. 2d DCA 2022) (‘Absent any findings about the parties’ net incomes or their respective ability to pay, the order must be reversed and remanded for further proceedings.’).”
Regarding the extracurricular expenses, the court also reversed, holding “We agree [with the husband’s argument] and construe the provision as applying only to those extracurricular activities that the parties agree upon pursuant to shared parental responsibility. See Gordon v. Gordon, 63 So. 3d 824, 827 (Fla. 5th DCA 2011) (construing a provision ordering the father to cover 61.47% of the costs of the children’s extracurricular activities as applying only to those activities that the parties agree upon).”
This article is not legal advice and is for information only. Schedule a consultation with a Miami family law attorney to understand how the law may apply to your case.