My husband pays child support for his daughter who lives in another state. We just found out that the mother (custodial parent) has been living with her parents. She has no intentions of moving out of her parents house and we know for a fact that the mother does not pay any of the bills. However we know that if it came down to court her parents would lie and say that she pays them rent, electricity, etc. We don't think it's fair that we are paying child support to someone who has no bills. We know the money isn't going to bills for the child so what is she doing with the money. Can we get a decrease in support or can we deem that the mother needs to move out of her parents house and create a real life for the child? Can we force the mother to live on her own? Or can we pay less support? What are our options?

You have no legal say in any of this, but I'm sure you know that.

No, child support is not reduced due to the living conditions/circumstances of the custodial parent. What State? In some States child support is by percentage of non-custodial parent's income; in others it's based on the income and expenses of both parents; some it's up to the Judge to decide.

If you are in a State where both parents' income and expenses are considered "forcing" the mother out and increasing her expenses could cause the child support to be raised.

Your husband cannot force the custodial parent into another living arrangement.

You basically have no options UNLESS the child is in danger, emotionally, physically.

In many of these cases the Court finds loving Grandparents in addition to the custodial parent to be a helpful factor in the child's emotional development.

Why do you want to "force" (your word) the mother out of her parents' house? In what ways does the child not have a "real life"?

If your husband does go forward with this, these are the questions the Court will ask.

The simple answer is no. The child support is generally based on the state guidelines. Unless the state of the child support order takes into consideration the parent's monthly mortgage or rent (and I hardly doubt it does) it does not matter what she pays for rent and bills, or lack there of.

Here is a scenario, what if you and your husband were living with his parents and not paying any bills or rent, would the mother have a right to ask for more child support from your husband? Just something to think about.

Also keep in mind that from the court's point of view, its your husband that pays the child support, not you or we.