Attorney k Counselor At Law
Fountain Plaza Office Building
23461 South Pointe Drive, Suite 350
Laguna Hills, CA 92653-1546
Telephone: (949) 206-9900
Call Toll-Free
1-877-77-DIVORCE
(1-877-773-4867)
In California, as in most states, both parents are responsible for the financial support of their children. Child support is the money paid by one divorcing parent to the other parent as his or her contribution to the support of the minor children. (Child support is also appropriate in paternity cases where there was no marriage and the parents live apart.) In California, the amount of child support is determined by a statutory formula. If the parents can not agree upon the amount of child support, the judge will evaluate all the factors that go into the formula and make a ruling on who will pay and how much. The statutes do not discrimination as to whether the father pays the mother or visa versa.
The amount of support depends on several factors, including both the custodial and non-custodial parent's incomes, the tax filing status of the parents, and certain financial obligations of the parents, as well as the amount of time each parent spends with the children. Occasionally, the standard of living that the children and parents enjoyed before the dissolution of the marriage may be considered.
Child support is paid via a wage assignment unless otherwise agreed upon by the parents. This means that the support payment is taken directly from the paycheck of the spouse who must pay the support.
In today's courtrooms, child support is almost always calculated by a computer program that takes all of the prescribed factors into consideration. Judges have comparatively little discretion to vary the computer-calculated amount of child support, but they do have wide latitude to decide about disputed input data (for example, the true amount of a parent's income or expenses). The duration of child support usually is quite standard: until the child marries, dies, reaches the age of 18 years (or 19 years if still in high school and living with a parent), or is emancipated.
Your attorney can help you estimate the amount of child support that you might be ordered to pay or receive, based on financial information you make available.
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