Child support is generally intended to help with the costs of raising the child—including food, clothing, shelter, and education—but laws vary from state to state and are often unclear on the extent to which child support payments are intended to help the custodial parent pay for half of school supplies, health care, braces, glasses, dental care, uninsured medical care, transportation (car), daycare, sports camps, cheerleading camps, school trips, social activities, and extracurricular activities.

Most state laws (statutes) don’t identify the specific child-rearing costs to which the custodial parent is required to contribute payment from child support and other resources—and because these issues are frequently the source of parental conflict, parents should identify all expected future costs and agree to the process for sharing them.

In New Jersey, child support is designed to cover a child's basic needs, which include food, clothing, shelter, and education. The New Jersey Child Support Guidelines are used to calculate child support and they take into account various factors such as the income of both parents, the number of children, and the parenting time arrangements. While the guidelines provide a framework for the basic support amount, they do not explicitly list every expense related to raising a child. Expenses such as health care, dental care, glasses, extracurricular activities, and school supplies are generally expected to be covered by child support payments. However, for significant or extraordinary expenses, such as orthodontic braces or private schooling, parents may need to reach an agreement or seek a court order for how these costs will be shared. In cases where the guidelines do not address specific expenses or there is a dispute, parents may need to negotiate an agreement or return to court to have these issues resolved. It is advisable for parents to discuss and agree upon the handling of these additional expenses and include such agreements in their child support order to prevent future conflicts.