Can technology play a role in avoiding child support disputes?

Technology seems to play a part in everything Americans do these days, so why not child support too? That seems to have been the thinking behind an Internet application designed to help both paying and receiving parents keep track of child support obligations.

According to a recent report, the program, called “Support Pay,” is intended to help parents with transparency when it comes to the costs of raising a child. For instance, the program can let a parent with primary physical custody take a picture of a bill and upload it to the program, which can then be accessed by the child support-paying parent. The intent is to allow the parents to agree on who should pay the bill or whether it should be split.

The program is also being billed as an efficient way for both parents to organize and track expenses related to the child’s needs. Most of our Maryland readers probably know that child support is about more than just payments designed to help with every day expenses – the payments are also meant to help with other financial needs, such as extracurricular expenses or medical needs. The Support Pay designers are also hoping to develop a smartphone application for the program.

Most people would probably be all in favor of any method that could help avoid a failure to pay child support, and it appears that this program may be one viable option. If the program helps parents avoid child support disputes, most courts will probably give it a thumbs-up as well. It is amazing what technology can achieve these days, and Maryland residents probably aren’t surprised to learn about a technological option to help parents with child support issues.

Source: TechHive, “SupportPay is an app to take on deadbeat dads,” Martyn Williams, Oct. 17, 2013