Child and Spousal Support
Ensuring the Needs of You & Your Children Are Met
At the outset of your divorce, if you and your spouse cannot come to an agreement regarding support, a Judge will award child and temporary spousal support based on California state guidelines. At the outset of your divorce, if you and your spouse cannot come to an agreement regarding support, a Judge will award child and temporary spousal support based on California state guidelines.
California guidelines for determining child support payments address many factors, including:
- Income from employment
- Earning capacity each parents
- Income each parent receives from other sources
- Number of children
- Amount of time each parent spends with the children
- Health insurance expenses
- Mandatory retirement contributions
- Cost of sharing day care and uninsured health care
- Tax deductions
A Child Support Calculator determines the amount of support, but the result may be modified if the Court determines the formula would be unjust or inappropriate due to income levels, special needs of the children or time-sharing arrangements.
Having an experienced attorney on your side is the best way to ensure your child or spousal support agreement fits your family’s financial situation.
Spousal Support in California
Spousal support is also key in many divorces. Unlike child support, post-judgment
spousal support awards are not subject to a formula.
The California Family Code lists many factors to be considered in awarding spousal support. These include:
- Length of marriage
- Preservation of the standard of living established during the marriage
- Job skills, education, training
- Impact of the marriage and time spent outside the workforce on employability
- Contributions to the education, training and career of the supporting party by the party who receives support
- Needs of each party based on the standard of living established during the marriage
- Ability of the supporting party to pay
- Ability of the supported party to seek work without unduly interfering with the interests of children in his/her custody
- Whether there was a history of domestic violence during the marriage
Spousal support is not a one-size-fits-all order.
The length of a marriage affects how long an award of spousal support will last. For a long-term marriage in California, lasting 10 years or more, a court may provide that spousal support continue with no set end date. Shorter marriages are likely to include alimony payments for a set period of time to give the spouse receiving financial help time to establish a means of support, usually equivalent to about half the length of the marriage.
There are a number of reasons why you may wish to seek (or defend against) a spousal support order in your divorce or separation.
Navigating these scenarios and knowing what to expect is crucial to being prepared to fight for your rights in your divorce case.
We Want to Help You Protect Your Interests
We understand the immense impact a child and spousal support order will have on your future. Whether you plan to see spousal or child support payments or need to defend your case against them, the team at Pahlavan Law can help. We have the expertise you need to ensure your interests are protected and fairly considered.