Child support and children from another relationship

[Jmckinsey]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma
My husband has a 5 year old daughter who lives with her mother out of state. We live in Oklahoma where all the jurisdiction is and she in New Mexico. He pays a lot in child support which greatly limits our funds but we want a family of our own. How will child support for my step daughter be affected? Will it be lowered when there are more kids involved? And just to cover myself, if my husband and I divorced, would child support be paid for my kids? I've always heard that the courts only care about kids from the first relationship and am scared to start my family without answers to these questions. Thank you so much!

 

[Proserpina]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Oklahoma
My husband has a 5 year old daughter who lives with her mother out of state. We live in Oklahoma where all the jurisdiction is and she in New Mexico. He pays a lot in child support which greatly limits our funds but we want a family of our own. How will child support for my step daughter be affected? Will it be lowered when there are more kids involved? And just to cover myself, if my husband and I divorced, would child support be paid for my kids? I've always heard that the courts only care about kids from the first relationship and am scared to start my family without answers to these questions. Thank you so much!

You're probably not going to like this response, but here we go. I did give you fair warning.

If you're already struggling financially, it's not a good idea to bring more children into the world. His first child doesn't need to eat less simply because he wants more children. In other words "don't breed what you can't feed". The credit he might receive for subsequent children would likely be minimal.

If you do decide to have children and then divorce (and get custody - that's not a given), you will be entitled to child support. It will likely be lower than the obligation to the first child.

It's not that the court doesn't care about subsequent children - it's that the court realizes that the original child/ren don't deserve any less just because the NCP decides to procreate.

 

[nextwife]

Improve YOUR earning capacity so that you can do a better job of supporting your future child. His ex would not also be getting a share of YOUR income: all of that would go toward supporting your household, yourself, and your child. Save for a few years first - PLAN for a family, that way you'll have extra money to cover child care costs, leave costs and so on.

Whatever chunk of his income is already allocated toward the existing child is money not available until they "age out" of support need. That's another advantage of waiting a few years - less financial overlap, fewer years where he'd have both your and his older child to support.

 

[mistoffolees]

You're probably not going to like this response, but here we go. I did give you fair warning.

If you're already struggling financially, it's not a good idea to bring more children into the world. His first child doesn't need to eat less simply because he wants more children. In other words "don't breed what you can't feed". The credit he might receive for subsequent children would likely be minimal.

If you do decide to have children and then divorce (and get custody - that's not a given), you will be entitled to child support. It will likely be lower than the obligation to the first child.

It's not that the court doesn't care about subsequent children - it's that the court realizes that the original child/ren don't deserve any less just because the NCP decides to procreate.

Actually, in OK, there's no credit for subsequent children. So if he has another child, the CS payment will not drop by one penny.

I agree completely with the rest, though.