Our Attorneys Help Resolve Child Support

During a divorce, child support is often the most pressing issue. If you and your spouse have children, terms of child support must be resolved at one point in the divorce process. In California, child support can be granted either through a collaborative divorce process or in court. A child support attorney can help you negotiate child support terms for you and your child’s best interests. Some clients prefer personalized representation, and often request to get in contact with a woman child support lawyer. If you’re seeking child support and prefer for a woman to legally represent and advise you, contact Her Lawyer to get in touch with one of our female child support attorneys.

Our child support attorneys operate throughout California in:

• Los Angeles
• Orange County
• San Diego
• the Bay Area

What is child support?

Child support is a parent’s legal obligation to financially support his or her child. Child support payments help ensure a child’s welfare, health, and well-being. Child support payments must go toward the child’s expenses, including food, supplies, clothing, and care. California law ensures that children caught between divorce are not left financially destitute. A California court may order one or both parents to financially support the child.

A child support lawyer can help you reach a fair child support payment plan. If you prefer for a woman to represent you, contact Her Lawyer to connect with one of our female child support attorneys.

When is child support granted?

Child support is granted when one parent may be economically disadvantaged and unable to independently support his or her child. In this case, the other parent may be financially obligated to pay monthly child support to the other parent in order to ensure the child’s financial welfare.

In order for a parent to be eligible for child support, he or she must be a custodial parent. In sole custody situations, eligible child support recipients must be responsible for a child’s daily care.

However, a parent sharing joint custody can also be eligible for child support. If there is a large difference between parents’ incomes, a parent may be legally obligated to provide child support to the financially impaired parent. For example, if a stay-at-home mother shares joint custody with a financially wealthy father, the father may be obligated to provide financial support to the child when he or she is in the mother’s custody.

Child support terms can either be agreed upon by both parents through collaborative divorce or can be ordered by a California judge in court.

How is child support calculated?

California Family Code 4055 serves as a Uniform Guideline for determining child support. CFC 4055 states that the following factors must be taken into consideration when determining and calculating child support:

• Each parent’s individual income
• Each parent’s potential income
• Each parent’s tax filing status
• Each parent’s assets and debts
• Each parent’s ability to pay child support
• Number of children the parents share
• Which parent(s) have child custody
• Which parent(s) have visitation rights
• Each parent’s expenses
• The child’s expenses, including daycare and healthcare costs

Under California Family Code 4055(f), child support is intended to benefit the custodial parent’s household standard of living. The Uniform Guideline is intended to “encourage fair and efficient settlements of conflicts between parents and seeks to minimize the need for litigation.”

Based on this calculation guideline, a California judge will decide if and how much child support must be granted.

How much can my child receive in child support?

A parent may be eligible for child support to pay a child’s:

• Healthcare expenses
• Travel expenses
• Educational expenses
• General care expenses

California legislation ensures that when determining child support, your child’s best interests are protected. A child support lawyer can help you ensure you and your child are financially secure. A child support plan may be necessary to protect your child’s health, well-being, and future. To roughly calculate child support, click here to be taken to the child support calculator.

Parents often feel as though their child support plan is unfair. To protect you and your child’s legal entitlements, contact Her Lawyer to get in touch with one of our child support lawyers. A child support attorney in our independent network will evaluate all relevant information and circumstances to help reach a fair child support agreement.

At what point in the divorce process is child support granted?

In California, child support is typically granted at the end of the divorce process. Child support payments typically begin when a family court judge signs a petition for marriage dissolution.

How can I get temporary child support?

Temporary child support can also be granted during the divorce process to ensure the child is financially secure throughout the marriage’s dissolution. Under certain circumstances, a California judge can grant a temporary child support plan. At the end of the divorce process, the temporary child support plan can be lifted and replaced with a permanent child support plan.

If you are seeking urgent temporary child support, contact Her Lawyer to get in touch with a child support lawyer.

What’s the difference between alimony and child support?

Both alimony and child support are forms of financial support granted during the divorce process. While spousal support can be used by a parent for any and all expenses, child support can only be used to pay for a child’s essential needs.

For how long will I pay or receive child support?

In California, parents are legally obligated to financially support children until they reach 18 years of age. However, the age of financial obligation to the child may be extended. For example, if the child cannot be financially independent to due medical reasons, the parents may be legally obligated to financially support the child past the age of 18.

Parents paying child support must understand that child support obligations will not automatically end once your child turns 18 years old. A financially obligated parent must submit a formal request to end child support to a designated California court.

Can a child support plan be modified?

Child support orders can be modified. Under significant personal or financial changes, a judicial order may be granted to increase or decrease child support.

• Grounds for ending or modifying child support include:
• The child has turned 18 years of age
• One or both parents has a significant loss in income
• One or both parents is recently unemployed
• One parent is sentenced to jail or prison
• Visitation and custody terms have changed
• The child’s needs have changed
• Any factors used to initially calculate child support have changed

However, child support payments do not increase, decrease, or end without contacting the court. In order to end or modify a child support plan, contact your local child support agency or court, and file all necessary paperwork.

Here are answers to more California child support FAQs.

Child Support – Attorney Principles

You and Your Child’s Best Interests Come First

Child support is an often necessary entitlement to ensure a child’s well-being. A child support lawyer can help negotiate and establish a fair child support plan to protect your child’s best interests.

Impartial Representation

Child support is a very sensitive issue, and it’s crucial that our lawyers take an unbiased approach when handling your unique case. Every attorney in Her Lawyer’s independent network goes through gender sensitivity training to ensure they remove judgment and bias from their legal affairs.

Personal Needs Require Personalized Service

Her Lawyer prioritizes your needs and preferences. We understand that you may feel more comfortable being represented by someone of the same or opposite sex. If you prefer to be represented by a woman lawyer, contact Her Lawyer to get in touch with one of our female child support attorneys.