When my son got his divorce, he would give the X the child support payments directly to her at times...the court called it gifts and he got nailed with back child support even if she signed a receipt....never give the X any cash, go throught the court and if the court is backlogged in getting out the money to the X tough luck for her.......just a warning to you guys out there...
When my X and I divorced, the judge asked us if we had child support worked out and we both stated that we did. Based on my income at the time, we both agreed to $200 per child per month until they reached 18 or moved out, whichever came first. The judge never signed an order for support. I kept my mouth shut on that one but I paid the agreed upon amount anyway.
This worked until the oldest turned 18 and stayed living with mom. The following month I gave her a check for $200 for the remaining minor child. She went to Child services on me and they ordered me to pay significantly more (this month was my first of not having to pay support in many years) They even tried to push her into going back to the date I left her and getting back support. The only thing that saved me from having to pay thousands in back support was my kids both sitting in that office with their mom telling her that if she did that, they would leave her and go live with dad.
I love my girls.