Child Support in California

If you live in California, have a child under the age of 18 or not legally emancipated, and do not cohabitate with the other parent, you may have come across the term “guideline child support.”  You may wonder what it means and how “guideline child support” is determined.  While child support is dependent on numerous factors and can be complicated, this article is intended to give you a broad overview of the child support laws in California.

Child support is a monthly financial obligation required by law compelling one parent to pay to the other parent an amount sufficient to help cover the costs of raising a child. Under California law, BOTH parents have a duty to financially support their child(ren) and this is a parent’s primary obligation. To create a fair and efficient method of calculating the amount of child support to be paid by one parent to the other, the California Legislature established statewide uniform guidelines. These laws can be found in sections 4050 through 4076 of the California Family Code and set forth principles that courts must follow when determining child support. One of the main goals is to minimize the disparities in living standards between the two separate homes. Child support payments may result in improving the standard of living in one of the households.  While this often upsets the parent who is paying child support, this improvement is for the benefit of the child(ren).

Computer software programs, such as Dissomaster™ or X-Spouse™ are used by legal practitioners, courts, and the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) to calculate the support to be paid monthly by one parent to the other parent.  California guideline child support is based on an equation that considers two basic factors: the disparity of income between the parents and the parenting time each parent has with the child(ren). The determination of parenting time can be the subject of disputes between the parents and requires careful analysis. While these computer programs are designed to streamline the calculations, they are wholly dependent on the information that is entered, so the information entered into the program must be both accurate and properly inputted.

A parent’s gross annual income is part of the calculation.  Gross annual income for purposes of calculating child support covers a broad range of sources.  It can include but is not limited to, commissions, salaries, royalties, wages, bonuses, rents, dividends, pensions, interest, trust income, annuities, workers’ compensation benefits, unemployment insurance benefits, disability insurance benefits, social security benefits, and spousal support received from a person not a party to the proceeding.  If a parent owns a business, the income generated by the business can be considered, which can include gross receipts from the business reduced by expenditures required for its operation.

If a parent is not working or is not earning at his/her earning capacity, the court, in its discretion, may “impute” or consider the income the parent could have earned for purposes of calculating monthly child support. This can be a source of serious disagreement between parents.  The court’s ability to impute income to a non-working parent is based on the state’s requirement that both parents have a legal duty to support their children.

A parent may also be required to pay child support “add-ons” which can include extra-curricular activities for the child, therapy, childcare so the other parent can work, etc.  So long as the cost is reasonable, the court will order one or both parents to maintain health insurance for the children. This cost is separate from the calculated monthly child support figure.

Child support can be requested by either a parent or by a person who has legal or physical custody of the child. The request for child support can be a standalone request to the court or can be part of another family law matter, such as divorce or a domestic violence case.  If the parents of the children are not married, “parentage,” also referred to as “paternity,” which is legal recognition of the parent’s relationship to the child, must be established before child support can be requested. Parentage can be established in several ways, which will be the subject of a later article.

While “guideline support” in California will presumptively be deemed to be legally sufficient, a court can deviate from guideline support under certain circumstances. The parent who wants the court to deviate from the guideline support calculation has the burden of proving why guideline child support should not be followed. The state guideline support laws require the court to make specific findings if there is a deviation from guideline child support.  Parents can agree to less or more child support than what California guideline requires for child support, but that deviation must be supported by facts and approved by the court to protect the best interests of the child(ren).

Determining the amount of child support owed by one parent to another can be a complicated matter and this article is intended to be a general overview of California child support law.  If you have a child support matter in California or have questions, you are encouraged to seek the guidance of a licensed California family law practitioner.

Author Traci S. Mason is a family law attorney licensed in California with over 19 years of litigation experience.  You can reach her at mason@portersimon.com.

DISCLAIMER: This article is not a substitute for professional legal advice.  This article does not create an attorney-client relationship, nor is it a solicitation to offer legal advice.