This page discusses the current state of the law regarding Child Support and Spousal Support. I give some hypothetical examples and show how small variations in the essential numbers will affect the bottom line. This discussion is very general and the facts of your particular case might change the outcome. These are not provided as legal advice but as a general explanation of how the important factors interact.

The California Family Code provides that the father and mother of a minor child have an equal responsibility to support their child in the manner suitable to the child's circumstances. (Family Code Sec. 3900) The duty of support continues as to an unmarried child who has attained the age of 18 years, is a full-time high school student, and who is not self-supporting, until the time the child completes the 12th grade or attains the age of 19 years, whichever occurs first. A parent cannot be ordered -- absent his agreement -- to support the child through college or to pay college expenses. Where a child is incapacitated, unable to earn a living, and without sufficient means, the parents' primary support duty continues after their child becomes an adult. The code states that parents have an equal responsibility to support a child of any age "who is incapacitated from earning a living and without sufficient means."

Child Support (and Spousal Support) is determined by the income of the parents, the number of children to be supported and the percentage of time the noncustodial parent spends with the kids. California has adopted a mathematical schedule called the "Child Support Guideline" that uses these factors to arrive at a monthly amount of support. The current guideline is so complicated that the courts and attorneys use computers to determine the amount. The guideline uses each party's "net disposible income" (NDI) as that term is derived on the income information form. The basic income court form asks each party to total their gross income from all sources for the past 12 months and then divide by 12 to come up with an average monthly gross income. The judges understand that people going through marital problems are frequently in transition with their jobs also -- so the form asks for each party's income LAST MONTH.
From the gross monthly income certain deductions are allowed to get down to the NDI. Those deductions are similar to -- but not exactly equal to -- the deductions on income tax returns. The allowable deductions include:

1. State Tax
2. Federal Tax
3. FICA or Self Employment Tax
4. State Disability Tax
5. Health Insurance
6. Mandatory Union Dues
7. Necessary Job-Related Expenses
8. Support Payments From Another Case

Once the income figures are derived then the court can proceed to determine the amount of monthly child support.

In the past the courts were permitted to add up to 50 percent of a party's new mate's NDI to their NDI. This situation existed for about five years until it was abolished by the state legislature on January 1, 1994. As with many things in California Family Law, there are a variety of exceptions: The current loophole says that where excluding new mate income would lead to "extreme and severe hardship" to the child who is the subject of the award, the court may consider it. The statute authorizes the court to "consider" new-mate income only in the exceptional case -- but what the court is actually supposed to DO with the income is not clear. The change in the law on January 1, 1994 constitutes a "change of circumstances" which will justify a different support amount. For example, if there was a support order made prior to that date that DID include an amount for new mate income -- it is automatically subject to review under the new law (See The Order To Show Cause discussion.)

The courts are aware that a working custodial parent spends money to make money. Child-care expenses should always be set forth as one of the child's necessities. The courts in the Indio Branch first compute the amount of child support and then require the non-custodial parent to pay, in addition, 50 percent of the custodial parent's actual day-care expenses.

If one parent shows that the other parent is deliberately depressing his or her income to avoid financial responsibility for a child, the court may base its order on that parent's ABILITY TO EARN rather than the party's actual earnings. However, proof that the spouse from whom support is sought is voluntarily working only part-time isn't enough to show suppression of income. The spouse who is seeking support must also prove what the other spouse's earning capacity is. If there is no evidence that a parent is deliberately lowering his or her income, an award of shild support must not be so disproportionate to a parent's income that he or she is left without a subsistence-level income.

In this hypothetical example the Husband has a Net Disposible Income (NDI) of $2,000 and the Wife has a NDI of $1,200. There are two kids and the Dad spends 20 percent of the time with them. Under those facts the child support under the California guideline would be $489 per month.

If we modify the number of kids to three, then child support would be $611 per month.

If we have two kids but Dad spends 40 percent of the time with them, then child support would be $216 per month.

If we have two kids, Dad spends 20 percent of the time with them, Dad's NDI is $2,000 and Mom's NDI is $2,000 then child support would be $424 per month.

These examples give you the opportunity to see how the figures interreact and affect each other. In these examples the child support figures range from a low of $202 per child to a high of $327 per child.

Spousal Support used to be called "Alimony". Legally, alimony no longer exists under California law -- just as there is legally no "divorce". (See The Divorce Process Page.

Spousal Support, like Child Support, is determined using the parties' Net Disposible Incomes. There are many more subjective factors which the court can use in arriving at a monthly spousal support amount, but in the absence of those factors, California follows the "40 - 50" rule. The basic Spousal Support guideline is 40 percent of the payor's NDI less 50 percent of the recipient's NDI. As an example of this let's assume that the Husband is earning a net of $2,000 and the Wife is earning a net of $1,000. Under these circumstances the monthly support would be $300 (40% of $2,000 is $800 less 50% of $1,000 = $300).

The following are some of the rules and other considerations the court takes into consideration in awarding Spousal Support:

The requesting party may establish need by setting forth expenses in each category of the income and expense declaration that must be filed with each noticed motion for support.
The supporting spouse's ability to pay is generally measured by actual annualized net earnings at the time the order is issued.
A trial court may order either party in a dissolution to submit to an evaluation by a vocational training counselor which shall include an assessment of the party's ability to work that is based on his or her age, health, education and employment history as well as on the job market for those skills.
The court SHALL refuse support if the parties have no children and the moving party earns a livlihood or has enough property to support himself or herself properly. The court MAY refuse support if the parties have children and custody has been awarded to the paying spouse who is supporting them.
An order for temporary spousal support is an appealable order but an appeal does not stay enforcement of the order.
In ordering spousal support the court shall consider all of the following circumstances:

• The extent to which the earning capacity of each party is sufficient to maintain the standard of living established during the marriage;
• The marketable skills of the supported party; the time and expenses required for the supported party to acquire the appropriate education or training to develop those skills and the possible need for retraining;
• The extent to which the supported party's present or future earning capacity is impaired by periods of unemployment that were incurred during the marriage to permit the supported spouse to devote time to domestic duties;
• The extent to which the supported spouse contributed to the attainment of an education, training, a career position, or a license by the supporting party;
• The ability to pay of the supporting party, taking into account the supporting party's earning capacity, earned and unearned income, assets, and standard of living;
• The needs of each party based on the standard of living established during the marriage;
• The obligations and assets, including the separate property of each party;
• The duration of the marriage;
• The ability of the supported party to engage in gainful employment without unduly interfering with the interests of dependent children in the custody of the party;
• The age and health of the parties;
• The immediate and specific tax consequences to each party.
• The goal is that the supported party shall be self-supporting within a reasonable period of time which is generally one-half the length of the marriage.;
• Any other factors the court determines to be just and reasonable.

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