March 26th, 2025
Who Pays for Summer Camps When Parents Are Divorced?
Posted in: Family Law Tagged: Monica Garcia Harms
Author: Monica Garcia Harms
When parents divorce, navigating child-related expenses can become complex, especially when it comes to extracurricular activities like summer camp. While summer camps can be a fun and enriching experience for children, they also serve a practical purpose as a form of work-related child care for many parents. In Maryland, child support laws address work-related child care expenses, including the costs of summer camp, under specific circumstances. Understanding these obligations can help divorced parents determine who is responsible for covering these costs.
Work-Related Child Care and Child Support in Maryland
Maryland law recognizes child care expenses as part of child support calculations when the care is necessary for a parent to work or attend school. The Maryland Child Support Guidelines specifically include work-related child care costs as an add-on to the basic child support obligation. This means that, in many cases, parents are expected to contribute to these expenses proportionally based on their incomes.
Work-related child care expenses can include daycare, before- and after-school programs, and summer camps if they serve as a substitute for child care. When children are out of school, summer camps serve as child care while a parent is at work.
Who Pays for Summer Camps?
If a child attends summer camp while a parent is working and is therefore a form of necessary child care, then payment responsibility will typically be divided in accordance with each parent’s proportional share of income as determined by the Maryland Child Support Guidelines. For example, if one parent earns 60% of the combined parental income and the other earns 40%, they will generally be responsible for covering the summer camp costs in that same proportion.
What Happens If Parents Disagree?
If one parent believes summer camp is necessary for work-related child care and the other does not, or one parent wants to send the child to a camp that may be more expensive than the other agrees is necessary, the issue may need to be resolved through mediation or court intervention. A judge will consider whether the camp is necessary for child care purposes, the parents’ financial situations, and whether attending the camp is in the child’s best interests.
Final Thoughts
For divorced parents in Maryland, determining who pays for summer camp depends on whether the camp qualifies as work-related child care and the parents’ financial responsibilities under the Maryland Child Support Guidelines. If you have questions about your particular case, it is best to reach out to a family law attorney to answer your questions and discuss your options.
