I Need Help Keeping Divorcing Parents Payments Straight

[MsMe]

Hello Ladies!


I need some help/advice.

I have my first set of divorcing parents. Everything about this situation is an 'exception' to my rules. That is NOT the part I need help or advice about. I need help helping myself and the parents keeping staight who pays what when.


This a DCB boy who when the family was together was a rare drop in (once eveyother month or so) as the family started having problems he came once a week, then a little more, and then nearly full time. I always leave one or two spots openand he is a perfect child so it is no problem to have him here.


Since he was always a drop in and paid by the day that is what we did. Since the 'spot' that he is filling is one that is 'extra' I feel like it is bonus money rather than operating money that I have to make each month. This also means he takes more days off then normal and even if he is a good kid it is always nice to have one less.

The trouble starts here.....

I have only part time and full time rates and evey family pays the same amout every friday. I have never had to count days, or think about who pays for what day. I am not interested in starting now.

I thought they were doing a good job of handling it by themselves (about 2 months) untill I got a note today...I paid mine Dad owes for two Mondays and this Friday. I am upset that a past Monday has not been paid for yet, but I KNOW it is my fault for not keeping track and leaving it up to them.

I think I am going to start requiring them to pay at the start of the week for days they plan to use.

Is there a weekly form that that anyone has that they can check off what days and what parent pays?

I will require each parent to have a check here by Monday 5pm. (I have a breeze way that is open with a pament dropbox so it won't disrupt my day.

Do you think this is a good soulution?

[Christian Mother]

What I do is have all parents pay me at the beginning of the week on Monday mornings at drop off for the entire week of what they will be using. So say I have a full time child and they pay $25 a day that is $125 they owe me for the week. I have a receipt book that you can pick up at walmart really cheap...it has carbon copies and that is how I keep track of payments. I write the date, amount and whether it was cash or check. It lets me put down who paid me and if I want to make a note on there if they paid extra I can add that on there. One is given to the parents for their records and I get the carbon copy for my records.

[MsMe]

All familys pay on Firday for the coming week. I have no problem keeping them staight. I have a record keeping system that works well.

I was thinking about letting them pay Monday for the week. This way it allowed them time to work out who owes what (they are not to the court agranged coustity yet)

[Checkinkids.com]

Always on Monday

I ran into problems with many parents when I used to collect on Fri. No way to get the ones who didn't pay till Monday! I switched to collecting on Monday as the rule and it seemed to work for the most part. Before, I had people entirely skip out on Fri and never return and never pay for the week. It's a bummer to get burned like that. As for divorced parents, we have some now but only ONE of them is the responsible party to get me the payment...and to pay fees, do paperwork etc.. That way I don't have to deal with any bickering they may have . I think you are on the right track with the dropbox and collecting on Monday. I do it so that each parent has a "pocket" on a board and I can leave them notes in there as well.

[Sunshine44]

Yikes, no advice, but I hope it works itself out soon. I can see how it would cause issues with them paying and not paying on time. Whatever you work out, let us know for others in the future.

[laundrymom]

I would ask whoever picks up today or the next time he comes, to please have other parent on phone, because you need to speak to them both at the same time.

Then I would take the phone, hi dad, hi mom.
I know there is some confusion as to payments and this is how I handle situations like this.
I don't work for dad on odd days and mom on evens. I keep your child..for $x per day. I am always available and I love having him. However, its not fair for me to keep track of different days, different payors, etc. We can do one of a few things, one parent paying the whole thing and figuring out how much you owe each other. Or whoever brings him pays the daily fee at drop off. If you forget the payment when you come you will have to take him with you to get it. Its not fair to ask me to keep track of so many things. I will issue seperate reciepts at end of year but you are responsible for putting every payment in envelope with his name, your name, and the date it pays for. I'm sorry for the inconvenience but I have no choice. I do have other families that I have to track too.

[renodeb]

Yeah that sounds good. Do you have a sign in/out book? If so dad needs to sign in and out onhis days and mom does to.
Another idea is to keep a calendar of there days some where. I would draw up an invoice for the monday he owes. I think your smart to require payment ahead, that way theres less worry.
I have had my share of divorced or divorcing parents, it was always up to me to keep the payments straight. I now have a calendar to help me keep track and it helps alot. I always say: everything in writting! Have them sign payment agreements so they dont try to contest the days.
Good luck!
Debbie

[MsMe]

I would ask whoever picks up today or the next time he comes, to please have other parent on phone, because you need to speak to them both at the same time.

Then I would take the phone, hi dad, hi mom.
I know there is some confusion as to payments and this is how I handle situations like this.
I don't work for dad on odd days and mom on evens. I keep your child..for $x per day. I am always available and I love having him. However, its not fair for me to keep track of different days, different payors, etc. We can do one of a few things, one parent paying the whole thing and figuring out how much you owe each other. Or whoever brings him pays the daily fee at drop off. If you forget the payment when you come you will have to take him with you to get it. Its not fair to ask me to keep track of so many things. I will issue seperate reciepts at end of year but you are responsible for putting every payment in envelope with his name, your name, and the date it pays for. I'm sorry for the inconvenience but I have no choice. I do have other families that I have to track too.

I like this. I may just have to give in to the fact that I DO have to check for a check each day that he is here. I hope I can get my partner who is here three mornings of the week to keep track as well...she is much more layed back than me and I handle all payments, that is why i org came up with the once a week list.