California Child Support

What are current California Family Law specs?

To be granted divorce in California you must fulfill certain “residency requirements.” You or your spouse must have resided in the state for a minimum of the previous six months. What’s more, you or your spouse is required to have lived in the country in which you are filing, for at least the previous three months.

While you or your spouse may claim reasons for the filing of divorce, in California you do not have to do this. You can reduce the stress of divorce by claiming, “irreconcilable differences.” In the end, it doesn’t matter whose fault it is that the marriage is ending; only that it end as quickly and painlessly as possible for all parties involved.

What Factors Decide Child Support in California?

Guaranteeing that your child or children are properly taken care of during and after a divorce is of your utmost concern. Because of this, it is extremely important that matters of child support are handled correctly in order to guarantee that your children are affected as little as possible. You are also going to want to have peace of mind that they are able to maintain the highest level of happiness that you wish for them after the divorce has been finalized.

Reducing Child Support When Income Goes Down

In re Marriage of Alter:
This is a recent case that emphasizes how important it is for you to consider reducing child support when your income goes down.

In this case the father had agreed to pay $4,000 per month child support and had agreed that the child support be non-modifiable. Specifically the parties had agreed that Father’s obligations to pay child support “shall be absolutely non-modifiable downward throughout the term that child support shall remain in effect.” However, for several reasons father’s income had dropped since agreeing to the $4,000 per month.

The court of appeals found that regardless of their prior agreement not to modify child support, that child support is modifiable at any time upon showing of a change of circumstances. This case emphasizes that the public policy in California is that child support be modifiable at any time, and that when circumstances change, the court is able to modify child support regardless of any agreement to the contrary. It would also apply to the reverse situation, if the recipient of child support lost their job or received a pay cut they could seek a child support increase.

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