Extraordinary expenses for children: the complete list

Between separated parents, one question comes up again and again: is this cost for the child already covered by the regular maintenance payment, or should it be shared on top? That is the whole distinction between ordinary and extraordinary expenses, and some version of it exists in many legal systems. In the UK, child maintenance is meant to cover everyday costs, while big one-off costs are typically agreed between the parents or decided by a family court. Here is what usually counts as extraordinary, the main categories, the logic of prior agreement, and how to keep it all traceable.

Ordinary or extraordinary: why the distinction matters

Ordinary expenses are the routine, predictable costs of a child's daily life: food, everyday clothing, toiletries, housing costs, regular travel, basic school supplies. In principle, these are already covered by the regular maintenance paid each month, so they are not shared a second time.

Extraordinary expenses, on the other hand, are significant, necessary and often hard to predict. They sit outside the everyday budget: a prescribed pair of glasses, orthodontic treatment, a residential school trip, an expensive sports camp. Because they are one-off and sometimes heavy, they are generally shared on top of the monthly payment, according to a separate split.

The distinction is not just a matter of vocabulary. It changes two concrete things:

• How the cost is shared. An ordinary expense is absorbed by the maintenance payment; an extraordinary expense triggers a separate reimbursement, often in proportion to income or 50/50.
• The process. Some extraordinary expenses require the other parent's prior agreement, whereas an ordinary expense needs no particular consultation.

Precisely because the consequences differ, you need to know which box each expense falls into. And that is where a clear framework helps.

How it works in the UK and elsewhere

In the UK, regular child maintenance, whether assessed through the Child Maintenance Service, agreed privately between parents or recorded in a consent order, is designed to cover a child's everyday living costs. There is no single official list of "extraordinary" expenses: big one-off costs such as school trips, private tuition, orthodontics or university costs are typically agreed between the parents, and a family court can decide when agreement proves impossible. The official guidance on gov.uk is the reference for how maintenance itself is worked out.

Many other countries follow the same broad logic: a regular payment for day-to-day costs, plus a separate mechanism for exceptional ones. The exact rules, and even the vocabulary, vary from one system to the next, so the document that governs your own separation, whether a court order or a written parenting agreement, always takes priority over any general list.

Belgium offers an interesting concrete example: a royal decree of 22 April 2019 sets out an official reference list of extraordinary expenses, organised into three categories, precisely to reduce case-by-case arguments between parents. That is a specifically Belgian rule, but the three categories it uses mirror what most systems recognise in practice.

The three categories most parents argue about

Wherever you live, the expenses that end up disputed tend to fall into the same three groups. Court orders and parenting agreements across many countries carve up the territory in a very similar way.

1. Medical and health costs not covered by healthcare or insurance

These are health expenses that go beyond routine care and are not (or not fully) covered by public healthcare or private insurance. Typical examples include:

• Orthodontics and specific dental treatment;
• Glasses, frames and lenses, as well as contact lenses;
• Speech and language therapy;
• Physiotherapy;
• Sessions with a psychologist or counsellor;
• Orthopaedic insoles, braces and other appliances.

The logic is twofold: these costs are medically necessary, yet part or all of the bill stays with the parents after any public or insurance cover. It is that uncovered part which gets shared.

2. Exceptional school and education costs

Beyond the basic supplies already covered by regular maintenance, some education costs are treated as extraordinary because of their size or one-off nature:

• Residential school trips lasting several days, including language stays;
• Computer equipment required by the school (a laptop or tablet imposed by the curriculum);
• Tuition fees and registration costs for higher education;
• Private tutoring and catch-up lessons.

These costs often land at the start of the school year or at key stages of a child's education. Anticipating and documenting them avoids a great deal of tension when the invoice arrives.

3. Activities, development and personal growth

This third category covers activities that contribute to a child's balance and development, whenever they represent a significant cost:

• Holiday camps, courses and residential activity weeks;
• Expensive sports (club membership, specific equipment);
• Artistic or cultural activities (music school, dance classes, an instrument);
• Driving lessons for an older teenager.

The table below sums up the three categories with typical examples.

Prior agreement: when do you need the other parent's consent?

Not all extraordinary expenses are handled the same way. The general principle, as it emerges from common practice and from most parenting agreements, distinguishes two situations.

Some extraordinary expenses call for the other parent's prior agreement before any money is spent. This is often the case for large, non-urgent costs: an expensive camp, a language stay abroad, the purchase of a musical instrument. The idea is that both parents, who will share the bill, should have a say in the decision.

Conversely, other costs can be incurred without prior agreement, in particular when they are urgent or clearly necessary. Medical treatment that cannot wait is the textbook case: nobody suspends a child's care while waiting for a written go-ahead.

In practice, it is wise to ask for agreement in writing whenever a significant cost is not an obvious emergency. A simple saved message can prevent a later dispute over reimbursement.

How to keep track of it all in practice

Whatever country you are in, the hard part is rarely the theory: it is the day-to-day follow-up. Piling up receipts, screenshots and improvised spreadsheets ends in confusion, especially when, months later, you have to prove who paid what and under which split. A few simple habits change everything:

• Tag each expense as ordinary or extraordinary as soon as it is incurred, while the context is fresh.
• Apply the right split at the moment of the expense, not later, to avoid recalculations.
• Keep the dated proof (invoice, prescription, receipt) attached to the expense.
• Keep a record of the agreement whenever prior consent was required.
• Be able to produce a clean summary, as a PDF, whenever it is needed.

This is exactly the kind of tracking an app like Kidivi is built to simplify. A receipt scanned with your phone is read automatically in about ten seconds, each expense is classed as ordinary or extraordinary with a configurable split locked in at the moment of the expense, and the running balance updates in real time. The history is tamper-proof, every receipt gets a SHA-256 fingerprint, and a solicitor-ready PDF export can be generated if the situation ever requires it. Above all, these features give both parents one clear, shared view of the numbers.

The app works in solo mode as well as shared mode (the other parent is invited free of charge), data is hosted in the European Union, there is no advertising, and everything remains available offline. Reimbursement is triggered in one click, by bank transfer with a QR code or via PayPal. Enough to turn a recurring source of tension into a simple formality that stays up to date.