The breakup of a relationship is an emotional roller coaster and the experience can be even more stressful when you have to negotiate child support payments as part of the separation process.

The good news is that you can get instant estimates using this child support calculator to help you arrive at a figure that should prove accurate. Noncustodial parents need to pay a reasonable amount of child support but it is the process of calculating what a fair figure is that can be difficult.

Here are some useful tips to help you calculate and track child support expenses.

Create a plan

In order to be able to make a valid claim for exactly the amount of money you need to support your child, you will need to write a comprehensive list of everything you spend and how much each item of expenditure costs.

It is all too easy to forget certain items that you tend to take for granted but these can add up to a tidy sum and if you are to try and claim help with these payments you will need to keep a detailed account of your expenses.

Make sure you account for all of your spending on a spreadsheet or similar document that will enable you to produce evidence of what you need to spend to look after your child.

Pick a time and a place to discuss finances

It is important to say that although you need to discuss finances with your ex-partner there is a right time and a place to do that.

Talking about money in front of your children is never a good idea and it often creates an extra layer of tension that is not conducive to agreeing to a fair and amicable settlement of child support payments.

It can often help to get professional guidance when it comes to negotiating child support payments and your lawyer will know what payments to ask for and how much you are entitled to.

Share your document with your ex

Openness and transparency can help to reduce arguments about costs and that is why it can make sense to create a document to track your expenses that can be easily shared with your partner.

At least they can see exactly what you are spending and appreciate the level of costs involved in real-time rather than being presented with a total figure at a later date.

Create a payment process

It can also make good sense to look at various ways to send payments rather than waiting until you next see each other and handing over cash.

It is much better to have a paper trail that shows who has paid what and there are plenty of smartphone apps that are designed to make it easy to transfer money and track expenses if that works for both of you.

Talking about child support and approaching the task with an open and professional view about what each other expects from the process will help to reduce the level of stress often associated with such an emotive topic.