If the other parent refuses to work, you can request that the Court impute income based on their ability to work. If you want the Court to impute income that is above minimum wage, specific information regarding the other parent’s skills and available jobs are needed and must be presented to the Court. The Court… Read More

Yes, court ordered child support for a child of a different relationship can be considered in the California guideline child support calculations. However, it must be pursuant to a court order for child support. If you are paying child support voluntarily, the California court does not have to take that into consideration when calculating child… Read More

Typically, the parent who has the children the majority of the time gets to claim the children as a tax exemption and receive the corresponding deductions. If the other parent claims the minor children and is not the primary caregiver, contact the IRS and find out what information they need to refute the other parent’s… Read More

The Court prohibits a complete waiver of child support but you can agree to set child support at $0 temporarily.

No! This is a common misconception among support payors. If you lose your job or have a decrease in income, you should consider filing a motion to modify the support order immediately. The Court only has the ability to make the modified support retroactive to the date you filed your motion. Thus, if you have… Read More

A wage garnishment is the best way to collect court ordered child support. This allows the child support payment to be deducted from the payor’s earnings. A separate form is required by the Court which then gets processed by the State Disbursement Unit. Other enforcement methods are available but it depends on the employment and… Read More

The duty to support a minor child continues until the child completes the twelfth (12th) grade or attains the age of 19 years, whichever comes first. The parents can agree amongst themselves to extend child support for a longer period of time.