Lake Tahoe Family Law | Attorney Craig C. Weaver

CHILD SUPPORT

California Child Support Guidelines

In California, both parents have a legal duty to provide financial support for their children. This obligation is the same whether the parents are married or not. The court may order either or both parents to make regular payments to cover a child’s living and medical expenses. Payments such as these are referred to as child support.

Child support in California is not all that complex. A formula has been adopted by the legislature that results in a “guideline” child support calculation that is treated by the court as being presumptively correct. The guideline formula is set forth in Family Code section 4050 et seq., and specifically in Family Code section 4055.

There are three (3) main software programs used to calculate guideline child support:

These are propriety software programs developed by private companies that have been approved by the California Judicial Council. They are available for purchase and free trials are sometimes offered. Essentially, these programs collect certain input information regarding the parties’ income and expenses, take into consideration the tax consequences, and then apply the formula developed by the legislature.

The two (2) main factors in the support calculation are: (1) the amount of time each parent spends with the child, and (2) the respective income of the parties. However, other factors such as tax filing statuses, payment of health insurance premiums, and hardship deductions can have significant impacts on the support calculation as well. The court may also order additional child support such as medical support, daycare expenses, and other add-ons.

Prior to the issuance of a support order, the law requires that each parent complete and exchange income and expense declarations to provide proof regarding their income and expenses to the court and the opposing party. In deciding the appropriate amount of support, the court will consider income from all sources, whether or not it is reported or taxed under federal law. The income can be in the form of money, property, and/or services. However, certain types of income, such as social assistance payments and supplemental social security benefits (“SSI”), cannot be properly considered as income available for support.

Under certain limited circumstances the court may deviate from a guideline child support order, however, the court may not do so without first determining the appropriate guideline support amount, then making findings that there is good cause to deviate, and finding that doing so would be in the best interests of the minor child.

If the calculation of child support is an issue in your case, call (530) 214-8700 today to schedule a consultation to learn more about guideline support calculations to ensure that support is being calculated correctly in your case.

Income Withholding Orders

After a support order has been issued, a document called an “income withholding order” may be provided to the support obligor’s employer. Generally up to one-half (1/2) of the paying parent’s net wages can be withhold for the payment of child support. In certain limited circumstances, it can be up to sixty-five percent (65%). Support arrearages will accrue if the full amount of support that is due cannot be withheld from the paying parent’s wages. When an income withholding order (“IWO”) is issued, the withheld funds are sent to the State Disbursement Unit in West Sacramento. The parent receiving support will need to contact his or her local child support agency (“LCSA”) to make sure that his or her account has been created and that there is an accurate address on file for the payments to be mailed. While an IWO provides an efficient means of collecting support and tracking support payments, they are not mandatory. The parent receiving support can agree to stay an IWO in favor of simply having the other parent pay support directly to him or her. If a parent paying support makes payments directly to the other parent outside of an IWO, it is very important to keep detailed, organized, and accurate records of those payments to ensure that credit is received for the payments. Paying support in cash is not advisable as there is no record of the transaction. It is also important to note that support orders remain in place until modified or terminated by operation of law. If support has been ordered but is not paid, then arrearages will accrue.

A custodial parent to whom support is owed may open a case with the Department of Child Support Services (“DCSS”) to assist with the enforcement and collection of support. A non-custodial parent who owes support arrearages can also enlist the assistance of DCSS in determining the amount and source of any arrearages owed.

Call (530) 214-8700 today to schedule a consultation to learn more about income withholding orders and the services offered by your local child support agency.

Imputation of Income, Vocational Evaluations, and Seek-Work Orders

While the calculation of child support in California is not all that complex, determining the proper income available for support to attribute to one of the parents can become a very involved process. When both parents are working at their highest income earning potential and receive all of their income in the form of regular wages reported on an IRS Form W-2, then the proper income available for support will rarely be in dispute. However, when bonuses, long-term incentive pay, stock options, corporate distributions, dividends, and the like are involved, then disputes can arises when determining income available for support.

Additionally, if one or both parties are not working, or a parent voluntarily leaves his or her employment, or there is a sharp decrease in one of the parties’ earnings following separation, then the parties’ income earning capacity will likely be called into question. This is where vocational evaluators come into play. In California, both parents have a legal duty to provide financial support for their children. Part of this duty can be interpreted to require parents to earn at their highest income earning capacities. Vocational evaluators can examine a party’s background, training, knowledge, and experience and identify employment opportunities available to the party. The court can then issue what is commonly referred to as a “seek-work order” requiring a party to make efforts to obtain the employment that has been identified by the vocational evaluator. When a seek-work order is issued, typically one of two things will happen: First, the party complies with the order and obtains employment. If this happens, then calculating support becomes relatively easy as the party’s earnings will be known. Secondly, if the party ignores the court’s seek-work order, then the court has the ability to “impute” income to the party and calculate support assuming that the party was earning at the level available to him or her as identified by the vocational evaluator. Of course not everyone who follows a court’s seek-work order obtains employment. As long as the order is followed and the requisite number of applications and personal contacts have been made, then at a review hearing the court will often give the party more time, typically an additional 30 to 60 days, to continue seeking-work before the court imputes income.

Vocational evaluations and seek-work orders are effective tools when a parent refuses to work, is earning under his or her earning potential, or when a parent has been out of the workforce for a significant period of time.

Additionally, if one party is not being truthful in reporting his or her income to the court, then discovery can be conducted to obtain the necessary information. Furthermore, if a party earns unreported cash, then income can also be demonstrated to the court by look at a party’s outgoing expenses. If a party is able to pay his or her expenses without borrowing money or incurring debt, then naturally that party is earning at least an amount equal to his or her expenses. Employing the services of forensic accountants can sometimes be necessary to resolve issues such as these.

California Guideline Child Support Calculator

https://childsupport.ca.gov/guideline-calculator/