Splitting kids/skids cell phone with the Ex?
Please tell me if and how you guys do this.
BM has now proposed her and DH split the cell phone bill for SS.
We have 4 kids: 2 bios for me (BS15 and BD13) and 2 for DH (SS14 and SD9)
Bios both have cellular phone, got them when they were 10. I pay for daughter, Ex pays for son. cut and dry/black and white. DONE
SS14 has had a phone for many years, BM bought it and gave it to him, she has paid the bill, BM and SS14 opted to get 3G, but stated he has a list of chores he must do every month to pay for his internet use.
She is now proposing DH will pay for half of SS cell phone bill?
I do not know how this would be calculated or verified to be an accurate calculation of just SS portion as she has a share everything plan and like 6 people on her plan.
SM rant would be that SD9, does not need a phone till she is 10 (in middle school with after school activities) she does not need internet on a phone! My bios do not have internet on their phone and till flip phones are eliminated...they will always have the cheap phones unless they have a job to pay for more.
Can you share your stories of how you split or don't split cell bill AND any horror stories of how splitting has gone BAD???
This is what I do with my Exh
This is what I do with my Exh and it works pretty well. Each kid has a phone and a basic flat rate plan so the bill never fluctuates. I pay in one month and he will pay it the next and so on. And we both agreed infront of the kids that if phones are only on every other month then the kids can only complain to the parent no holding up to their side.
ExH and I split the cost of
ExH and I split the cost of BS's cell phone. I talked to him about this when BS first got his phone. We agreed that BS should have a phone and that we both liked being able to contact him that way. We split the monthly cost 50/50.
BS and I split the cost of the phone itself but mainly because BS wanted one with more storage than I was willing to pay for (we have iphones).
Skids don't have cell phones. BM keeps them sheltered and doesn't want them to enter the real world. There have been several times when SS really could of used one, i.e. to call to get picked up when an event ended. Since they are with her most of the time, DH can't do much about it. BM will not pay a share of anything so DH knows she won't pay for part of a cell phone anyway. He is going to bring it up again for this Christmas but our guess is she will refuse to allow them to have a phone.
No splitting. I pay for
No splitting. I pay for BS19, and BM pays for SS16. She chooses to do that, as it is still a link to her son since we have 50/50 custody. Pathetic, but she buys his a new phone every other year, whether he needs it or not and all the accessories. I am uncomfortable with it, but it saves me the 40 a month that DH would have to pay on my plan.
My answer is you pay if you have more custody. If not, up to you. For me I am not enthused about BM and the tracker she uses on SS's phone because she had problems with SD and still has it on SS's phone. No reason since he never leaves the house.
Now SD - BM pays but she had full custody after age of 14. We won't do anything for that kid and keep hoping for the day BM wakes up and cuts off her phone and her ability to tell everyone the crap she is up to at college. Last night's bonus was a stoned picture in someone elses shirt and shoes so she could go to Waffle House stoned...
If you want control of the kid, pay the bill.
For once this is where my DH
For once this is where my DH put his foot down. He told is ex wife that if she insisted that their girls (who were pretty young at the time) have the most expensive up to date cell phones with "all the fixins" (lol) that she needed to pay for it, or at least use child support money..he wasn't going to pay any extra out of pocket for fancy cells that they didn't need
^^^^ YES! BM is pleading
^^^^ YES! BM is pleading poverty...because she spent all her money at the local bar and liquor store. She has been caught many times telling DH that she spent 50+ dollars on RX for Skids, but when receipt is requested its only 6.00, she tried to claim she was paying 250.00 a month in health insurance for the kids, but when the documentation was requested, after a long wait, it turns out it was only 140.00 a month.
Funniest was when she hauled DH back to court claiming her income had changed due to a new job and needed more money...she actually used white out to erase her hourly wage before she turned it into the judge...she must have thought he would just take her word on it.
Who puts white out over their pay stub earnings to try and fool a judge...That's my BM!
This just makes more contact
This just makes more contact for the adults. DH should tell her that he will just add SD to your plan when she turns 10. That way she pays for one and he pays for one.
IMHO...I paid for my kids cell phone. Does DH pay CS? I would think this would come out of CS.
He doesn't pay CS...they both
He doesn't pay CS...they both make exactly the same amount so they opted out of child support.
We never split the SKid's
We never split the SKid's cell phone bill with his Sperm Idiot. We paid it. It was for our convenience. We gave him a no frills bottom of the line phone when he was 13. That was so we could coordite pick ups, drop offs, etc.. for his school and extra curricular activities.
The downside of getting the Skid a phone was that the Sperm Clan started calling him incessently. Kind of a Catch 22 situation. So, we just blocked all calls from their area code. We never told anyone, we just did it. SS never called them and before we gave him the cellphone never once in the predeeding 11 years did they call to speak with him. The only time they called was to bitch about a bill we sent them, to cry about CS, or to talk about visitation travel. We did not get the phone to make it easier on them to manipulate the Skid and we would not tolerate their calls jacking up our mobile phone bills.
Kids do not need a smart phone. Ever, for any reason, until they can pay for it entirely on their own.
So, if getting SS a phone will make your lives easier then consider it. If not, do not agree to splitting the bill with BM. If she wants him to have a smart phone with data package then she can pay for it.
At least that is how I would address the issue.
In our case my BS13 has a
In our case my BS13 has a flip phone, I bought it, I pay for it, I control it. I have almost 50/50 with my ex with our two kids. My BD is 9 and can call from her brother's phone if need be. I got it for my son when he was about 10 because my exh was leaving him home alone without any home phone.
Skids, BM got SD11 a phone, she pays, or govt pays who knows, she didn't even inform DH. Once DH got the number from SD11, then BM got her an Iphone with a new number. BM demanded DH buy SD11 a phone for her birthday, we said NO, BM gets max CS and doesn't work. DH isn't allowed to know the number or call either skid, WHATEVER.