August's bills sort into three buckets, and the order decides which is which.

The last two weeks of August are the most expensive stretch of the parenting year: registration fees, supply lists, new shoes, sports physicals, band instruments, and the first month of before school care, all landing at once. For separated parents, every one of those receipts raises the same question, and the answer isn't a matter of opinion. Michigan's child support formula already sorts school year costs into three buckets, covered by base support, added on and split by formula, and everything else, and most August arguments come from parents fighting about a receipt without knowing its bucket.

What does base support already pay for?

The monthly support amount is calculated to cover a child's ordinary living costs, and that includes the school year's routine spending: clothes and shoes, backpacks and supplies, lunches, yearbooks, and the ordinary activity fees that come home in the first week folder. That cuts in both directions. The parent receiving support can't ordinarily bill the other parent a second time for the supply list, and the parent paying support doesn't get to earmark or itemize how the receiving household spends the check. When the August receipts feel like they've outgrown the number, the remedy is a modification of the number, not a running invoice war between households.

How does before and after school care get split?

Childcare sits in its own bucket, added on top of base support and divided between the parents through the formula. The Michigan Child Support Formula includes childcare costs that let a parent work or attend school, which is exactly what before school drop off programs and after school care are, and following the 2025 formula update, the childcare adjustment runs for children up to age 13. August is when these costs restart after a summer of different arrangements, so it's the right month to check whether your order actually reflects what care now costs, because a childcare number from a preschool era order can be badly stale by third grade.

Where do sports physicals and medical costs land?

The 2025 formula builds in ordinary medical expenses at $200 per child per year, which absorbs the sports physical, the routine copays, and the school required forms. Beyond that ordinary amount, additional medical expenses get divided between the parents according to the percentages written in the support order, so the orthodontist consult and the unexpected urgent care visit don't fall on whichever parent happened to drive that day. Keep the receipts and route them through the process in the order, because reimbursement systems only work when the paper trail exists.

Who pays for private school, band, and travel sports?

This is the third bucket: nothing in the formula automatically obligates either parent to fund private school tuition, club and travel teams, instruments, or the trip with the marching band. These get paid the way the parents agree to pay them, and ideally the agreement lives in the order itself as a specific provision naming the expense and the split. If there's no agreement, a court can be asked to address genuine educational expenses, but the outcome depends on both parents' means and the child's circumstances. What doesn't work is enrolling first and litigating the bill afterward, which courts read the same way they read unilateral school enrollment: as self help. And a decision as significant as private school is usually a joint legal custody decision anyway, before it's a financial one.

Can the support amount be changed to match reality?

Yes, and this is the lever August tends to reveal a need for. A support order can be modified when circumstances change, things like income shifts, parenting time changes, or childcare costs that bear no resemblance to the number in the order, and the Friend of the Court will review an order on request, with reviews available every 36 months, recommending a change when the current amount differs meaningfully from the formula result. What you can't do is self adjust: paying less because you bought the school clothes, or withholding parenting time over unpaid support, only creates enforcement problems that follow you into every later hearing. If the order and the receipts have drifted apart, our family law practice can tell you in one conversation whether a modification is worth filing. The consultation is free, so reach out before the resentment compounds into September.

Quick answers

Does Michigan child support cover school supplies and clothes?

Yes. Base support is calculated to cover a child's ordinary expenses, and school clothes, shoes, supplies, and routine fees fall inside it. Neither parent gets to bill the other separately for those items; if the support amount genuinely no longer fits the child's costs, the remedy is modification.

Is after school care included in Michigan child support?

It's added on top of base support. Childcare that lets a parent work or attend school, including before and after school programs, goes into the formula and is split between the parents, for children up to age 13 under the 2025 formula. If your order predates your current childcare costs, it can be reviewed.

Who pays for private school after a divorce in Michigan?

Nobody automatically. Private school tuition and similar extras aren't built into the formula, so they're paid by agreement, ideally written into the order, or by court decision after weighing both parents' means. Enrolling first and demanding reimbursement later tends to go poorly, especially under joint legal custody.

Related reading

• School Choice Disputes in Michigan Custody
• Summer Parenting Time Disputes in Michigan
• Family Law at D.C. Law