SAN DIEGO CHILD SUPPORT LAWYERS

Assisting Clients With Child Support Matters in San Diego, Rancho Santa Fe, Del Mar, La Jolla, & Carlsbad, CA

Divorced and unmarried biological parents are expected under California law to provide financial support for the raising of their children. The state of California provides child support guidelines which are used to calculate the amount that one parent will pay the other for this support. Generally, the parent who has primary custody of the child will receive these payments from the other parent. However, individualized circumstances can impact the final amount to be determined when the application of the guidelines results in an amount that is deemed unreasonable or unfair. 

Helping Parents With Child Support Issues For Over 25 Years

At Hargreaves & Taylor LLP, our San Diego child support lawyers have been representing parents in child support issues since 1997. We have a thorough understanding of the law, how the guidelines work, and how deviations from those guidelines may be appropriate in determining the final outcome. Our lawyers can help you seek a fair and just initial child support judgment or take legal steps to help you later pursue enforcement or modification of a current support order. 

Let us help you in pursuing a child support order that reflects your life and financial scene. Phone Hargreaves & Taylor LLP at (619) 374-4442 or contact us online to schedule a consultation with a child support lawyer in San Diego today. 

California Child Support Guidelines Formula 

The child support guidelines formula used to calculate your support payment is complicated. It takes into consideration many factors. 

These factors include:

• Parental income
• Deductions, such as income tax and payroll deductions
• Percentage of time a parent spends with the child
• Childcare expenses
• The number of children needing support

Parental Income 

Parental income alone can be a complex factor that includes income from all sources, such as wages, commissions, bonuses, tips, interest, dividends, government benefits, pensions, family-owned business or professional practice income, other self-employment income, rental income, and more. 

Deductions 

Following this, deductions to be taken from this income can also be complicated and wide-ranging which is why it is beneficial for you to have the experienced knowledge of a child support lawyer who understands all available legal options in determining the matter. However, as a general rule, the more the supporting parent earns and the less time that parent spends with a child, the greater his or her support obligation will be.

Exceptions

California family court judges are required to order support payments as calculated through the guidelines unless you can show that the specifics of your situation would support a deviation from that amount. The factors that would affect this are listed under California law as shown below.

Examples of those factors include but are not limited to:

• “The parent being ordered to pay child support has an extraordinarily high income and the amount determined under the formula would exceed the needs of the children.”
• “A party is not contributing to the needs of the children at a level commensurate with that party’s custodial time.”
• “Cases in which the parents have different time-sharing arrangements for different children.”
• “Cases in which both parents have substantially equal time-sharing of the children and one parent has a much lower or higher percentage of income used for housing than the other parent.”
• “Cases in which the children have special medical or other needs that could require child support that would be greater than the formula amount.”

Contact Our Child Support Attorney in San Diego Today

To ensure you receive or are required to pay a fair and just child support payment, we highly recommend that you take advantage of the exceptional knowledge and decades of practice child support attorneys have to offer in this matter.

Call our San Diego child support attorneys at (619) 374-4442 or contact us online today get started with a consultation.