Child Support Lawyers in Beverly Hills

Understanding Child Support Orders and When You Need Legal Representation

Raising a child is expensive, and parents incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs on average by the time a child is 18. This includes necessities, such as housing and food, as well as other expenses, including child care, clothing, and extracurricular activities. The state of California recognizes that both parents have the legal responsibility to provide financial support for their children, regardless of their relationship with the other parent. Child support aims to ensure that the child’s needs are met, irrespective of where they spend their time. Whether you anticipate paying or receiving child support, it’s critical to understand how it is handled and how it may affect your financial situation moving forward.

Child support issues are complex and depend on the unique factors of each family. At Baron Family Law, PC, we can help you understand how child support works in California and whether you will likely pay or receive support. Call 916-694-1164 to schedule a time to talk with an experienced child support attorney about your situation.

When Does Child Support Apply in Family Law Cases?

California law stipulates that both legal parents are legally obligated to support the child financially. When the parents are in a relationship and living together, married or otherwise, this generally happens naturally as the parties contribute to the household finances. The court system can intervene when this isn’t the case.

Determining child support is automatically part of a divorce case that involves children, but it also applies to legal separations. If parentage is established for parents who weren’t married, child support orders are typically also established as part of this process.

Child support may also apply in domestic violence cases where there is a restraining order involved or situations where a parent no longer has custody of the child, such as if a grandparent has been named the primary custodian.

How Do You Establish Child Support If You Weren’t Married to the Other Parent?

A child born to a married couple is presumed to be the legal child of both parents. This means that parentage is automatically established unless there is a compelling reason, such as a court-ordered DNA test that determines the husband is not the biological father. However, these protections do not extend to parents who are not married at the time of the child’s conception and/or birth. In this situation, legal parentage must be established before child support can be ordered.

An unmarried parent can establish parentage in two ways: a Voluntary Declaration of Parentage or a court petition establishing a parental relationship.

Voluntary Declaration of Parentage

Having both parents’ names on the birth certificate isn’t enough to establish parentage for unmarried parents. Instead, both parents will need to sign the Voluntary Declaration of Parentage. This is generally done at the hospital after the child is born, but can also be signed later on. Once you have this form, you can file it with the Child Support Services office, and it functions in the same way as a court order establishing parentage.

Court Order Establishing Parentage

If the parents weren’t married and at least one parent refuses to sign a Voluntary Declaration of Parentage, parentage must be established through the court system. This often involves court-ordered DNA testing to determine paternity. Once a judge has legally established parentage, the process of determining child support and who will pay whom can begin.

How Is Child Support Calculated?

Child support calculations are based on the California child support guidelines. The court uses a formula to establish the basic support amount that considers various factors.

Income

Income is one of the most significant factors that impact child support calculations. The child support guidelines consider most sources of income, including wages, tips, bonuses, self-employment income, rental income, and some retirement income, such as pensions. Generally, the higher-earning spouse will pay child support to the lower-earning spouse.

Who Carries Health Insurance for the Child

Health insurance premiums can represent a significant expense, but the cost can factor into the child support calculations for the person legally required to provide health insurance. This can help offset their income and potentially lower the support amount.

Child Custody

While child custody and child support are two separate issues in the family court system, the physical custody arrangement can impact child support. When one parent has significantly more parenting time with the children than the other, child support is more likely to be awarded. However, equal parenting time doesn’t necessarily eliminate child support.

If there is a significant difference between the parents’ incomes, child support could still be awarded to ensure that the children benefit from both parents’ incomes.

Childcare Expenses

Necessary childcare expenses can also be factored into child support. For example, if one parent is paying for daycare during the week so they can go to work, this can be calculated as an extra expense they are incurring. If they are the parent paying support, this could lessen the amount, and vice versa if they are the parent receiving support.

In general, childcare needs to be considered in child support calculations. For example, if the childcare is being used to free up personal time for a nonworking parent, this isn’t likely to affect support.

Support for Other Children

Having additional children doesn’t automatically lower your support payments, but some of the expenses related to those children may be a factor. For example, if you are paying for child care or have to carry additional insurance, this could impact your support amount. This is a complex and often misunderstood area of the law, so it’s critical to get counsel from an attorney about your specific situation. Keep in mind that the courts generally don’t allow voluntary decisions, such as having another child or taking a lower-paying job, to affect child support.

What Expenses Are Covered by Child Support Payments?

In California, child support is meant to ensure that the children have what they need to thrive and that both parents are providing financial support. Child support payments calculated with the basic child support guidelines are intended to ensure the paying parent is contributing to the child’s basic needs, such as:

• Housing
• Utilities
• Food
• Clothing
• Transportation

Child support doesn’t have to be accounted for, and support payments aren’t generally meant to cover all of the child’s expenses. The parents may also make informal arrangements to split costs related to extracurricular activities, school supplies, and other fees.

Can You Request a Child Support Modification?

Child support orders are often in effect for several years, and it’s common for family financial circumstances to change during that time. If you believe that the child support order is no longer appropriate for your current situation, you can request a modification. If it has been less than three years since your last review, you will generally need to show that there has been a significant change in circumstances. This can include, but isn’t necessarily limited to:

• A change in employment, such as being laid off or getting a second job
• A substantial change in income
• A change in the parenting time order
• A significant change in the child’s circumstances, such as a medical diagnosis that requires additional expenses
• A parent becoming disabled, being deployed, or being incarcerated

You will need to have documentation to support your modification request, and what is required depends on the reason. If you are asking for a modification due to financial changes, documentation may include updated W-2s or tax returns. A change request due to parenting time will require a copy of the new custody and visitation order.

The local child support agency will consider your request and rerun the numbers to determine if the changes impact the child support amount. In general, the change must be at least 20 percent or $50, whichever is less, to result in a new order.

It’s also critical to keep in mind that when you request a modification, it may not end as you expected. It’s common for a parent to request a modification to decrease support only to find that it goes up. Talking with an attorney before making a formal request for a modification can help you better understand whether you’ve had a significant change in circumstances and how that is likely to affect the support amount.

What Happens If a Parent Doesn’t Pay Court-Ordered Child Support Obligations?

Parents who are court-ordered to pay child support must make those payments as ordered to avoid consequences. Once a parent is more than 30 days behind on their child support payments, the case is officially considered in arrears, and enforcement measures can be taken. This can eventually include consequences such as:

• Having their driver’s license suspended
• Being disqualified from recreational permits, such as for fishing or hunting
• Having a passport confiscated
• Placing a lien on the parent’s home, vehicle, or other property
• Having wages garnished or a tax refund seized
• Being held in contempt of court, which can include fines and jail time

If you fall behind on your child support, don’t panic, as you will be allowed to catch up as long as you are acting in good faith. An arrears payment can be added to your original child support case to help you catch up. Those who are more than $2,500 behind in child support generally face the steepest consequences.

Do You Need a Child Support Attorney?

While it’s technically possible to go through child support proceedings without representation, it’s never a good idea. An attorney plays a critical role by ensuring you understand what your rights and obligations are and can help you anticipate how a support order might change before you start proceedings. An attorney can review the other parent’s financial disclosures to determine if there may be missing or hidden income and can file a motion to ask the court to impute income to a parent who is voluntarily not working as a way to avoid paying support.

Most of all, working with an attorney ensures you have an advocate throughout this process who can help you get a fair child support order that makes sense for your family’s financial resources.

Get help from an experienced child support lawyer when you reach out to Baron Family Law, PC, at 916-694-1164. We’re here to answer your questions and help you navigate this process.