Why is it better for dads to pay the entire 18 years of child Support up front?

[Vegasrunner]

[Anonymous]

It is not because the mom could blow through it and then come back for more. The courts would then order you to pay monthly child support based on the current financial situation of the child, not on what you paid before. She has an obligation to manage the money prudently and in the best interests of the child, but it's unlikely a court would enforce that.

Better to put it in a trust and have the trust pay it out monthly for the 18 years. Then you can also be earning interest on the amount still remaining in the trust for that time.

If it's $4,000 a month (and assuming no increases in the monthly amount are ordered based on your increasing income over the years), that means there would be $864,000 in the trust when the child is born. In very simplistic terms, even at only 3% interest you would earn around $25,000 on that money the first year, which pays half the child support owed that year. In year 10, you'd earn $11,000 about 1/4 of what is owed that year. And so on.

[Vegasrunner]

@anonymous That's actually not true. If the court allows for the support to be paid as a lump sum, the mother waives her rights to future support.

[Anonymous]

It is not in my mind.