Irvine Child Support & Spousal Support Attorney

Child Support

Child support is an amount of money that the Court orders one parent to pay the other parent each month for the support of the children. In California, child support is based on a “guideline”. The guideline is a formula based upon the incomes of the parties and the time each parent spends with the children.

Child support is payable until a child marries, dies, is emancipated, reaches 19, or reaches 18 and is not a full-time high school student, whichever first occurs.

If a party is not employed or earning income, the Court can make an Order of child support based upon the payor’s ability or capacity to earn income. A party’s capacity to earn must be based upon the ability of the parent to perform a particular type of job and the availability of those types of jobs.

You may ask “What if I am having problems collecting child support?” The Court will order a wage assignment that can be served on the employer and the employer will send the support directly to the recipient parent. The Court can also enforce a child support order, including revocation of the party’s driver’s license or work-related licenses.

At Kirk & Toberty, we have the program that calculates the guideline amount for child support.

Spousal Support

When a couple separates or divorces, the Court may order spousal support. The Court is supposed to consider the following factors when it is asked to make an order of spousal support (these factors are set forth in the Family Code, Section 4320):

1. The extent to which each party’s earning capacity will maintain the standard of living established during the marriage. The Court must take into account (a) what might be required for the supported party to develop or acquire marketable skills and (b) the extent to which his or her earning capacity is or will be impaired by any periods of unemployment during the marriage to devote time to domestic duties.
2. The extent to which the supported party contributed to the supporting party’s attainment of an education, training, a career position, or a license.
3. The supporting party’s ability to pay, taking into account his or her earning capacity, earned and unearned income, assets, and standard of living.
4. Each party’s needs, based on the standard of living established during the marriage.
5. Each party’s assets (including separate property) and obligations.
6. The duration of the marriage.
7. The supported party’s ability to be gainfully employed without interfering with the interests of dependent children in his or her custody.
8. Each party’s age and health, including, but not limited to, consideration of emotional distress resulting from domestic violence perpetrated against the supported party by the supporting party when the Court finds documented evidence of a history of domestic violence, as defined in Family Code §6211, against the supported party by the supporting party.
9. The immediate and specific tax consequences to each party.
10. The balance of the hardships to each party.
11. The goal that the supported party be self-supporting within a reasonable period of time.

Parties can ask the Court to change the amount or duration of the spousal support if there has been a change of circumstances since the original spousal support order was made. Spousal support is typically deductible from the payor’s income and includable in the recipient’s income for tax purposes.