Hardship Deductions in California Child Support Cases

on March 3, 2020Posted in Child Support,Court,Family Law

Are you having trouble paying your child support order? Depending on your financial circumstances, you may be entitled to a deduction. Main Factors Used in Calculating Child Support First, we have to acknowledge that California child support uses a “Guideline” calculation. The Guideline takes into consideration these main factors: the number of children both parties’… read more

What is the difference between temporary spousal support and permanent spousal support?

on August 22, 2018Posted in Child Support,Family Law

Throughout a Family Law case, the Court may make several orders over various matters. One of these matters is spousal support, and there can be a significant difference between initial “temporary” spousal support orders, and permanent spousal support orders. This article will generally discuss how the Court should analyze either request. Temporary spousal support is… read more

How Much Child Support Will I Have to Pay?

on June 24, 2016Posted in Child Support

Parents who get a divorce or who were not married have a mutual obligation to support their children. (Fam. Code, § 4053.) To make this happen, California has put in place what is called “Guideline” child support. On a very basic level, the Guideline San Diego child support calculator takes into account each parent’s gross… read more

Disability Payments Impact California Child Support Orders

on May 7, 2016Posted in Child Support

Do you receive disability payments under the Social Security disability insurance program or from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and also have a monthly child support obligation? If so, your child may be eligible to receive derivative benefits (payments in addition to your disability checks for the benefit of the child) from the applicable federal… read more

Contempt: Disobedience of Court Orders May Result in Fines or Jail Time

on March 31, 2016Posted in Alimony,Child Custody,Child Support,Contempt,Enforcement,Family Law,Spousal Support

“Contempt” is defined in Black’s Law Dictionary as “conduct that defies the authority or dignity of a court or legislature.” Courts make orders and people are expected to obey those orders. In some cases people behave badly and fail to obey court orders. When that happens, one is left to seek enforcement of the court’s… read more

Do We Have to Support Our Children Through College?

on November 25, 2015Posted in Child Support,Family Law

Many parents navigating through a divorce case are not just thinking about and planning their own futures, but also the futures of their children – specifically, parents want to see their children obtain higher education, but often disagree as to who should pay, how they should pay, if they should pay, and can they pay… read more

Did Grandma Alter Dad’s Income with her Gifts?

on November 24, 2015Posted in Assets,Child Support,Family Law,Spousal Support

When calculating California Guideline child support, the court may consider recurring gifts that a parent receives as income available to pay child support. At court hearings concerning child support, for most cases the judge will enter each parent’s income, deductions, and child sharing time into a computer program that is used to calculate the amount… read more

Imputed Income during Incarceration

on November 19, 2015Posted in Assets,Child Support,Divorce Articles,Family Law

In Re Marriage of Smith, 90 Cal.App.4th 74 (2001). If you’re willing to go to jail where you can’t work, your support will likely be set to zero. In Re Marriage of Smith gives us a decision on three cases where the court was asked to impute income to people while they were in prison…. read more

Fired bakers can get crumby jobs

on November 5, 2015Posted in Child Support,Divorce Articles,Family Law

In Re Marriage of Everett: 220 Cal.App.3d 846 (1990) We’ve seen that the court has a lot of discretion to use imputed income for support calculations, but it can also choose not to impute income. In Everett, the court declined to impute income where a man who lost his higher paying job chose to work… read more

Do you have an opulent life style?

on October 31, 2015Posted in Assets,Child Support,Prenuptial Agreement

Another fun support case on the other side of the spectrum from Stewart v. Gomez is the In re Marriage of De Guigne. This is a quote from the De Guigne case regarding the parties’ background: “The family maintained an opulent lifestyle. The house was staffed by two housekeepers, three gardeners, a laundress, chef, child… read more