California law requires both parents to support his/her child(ren). The amount of child support a parent has to pay is based upon a legislature created formula. Some of the factors which the courts use are: the father's gross monthly income, the mother's gross monthly income, the number of children, the location of the children if one parent is the primary caretaker, the amount of time the other parent actually spend with the children, interest and dividend income, self-employment income, other income, and any undeclared income such as gifts or cash.

If a parent is not working but has the ability to work and earn money, the court may impute income to that parent based upon his or her ability to earn. The parent who claims that the other parent has the ability to earn or is under-earning has to show the court what the other parent could be earning. Sometimes vocational evaluation experts are helpful in this area.

Usually the income of a parents "new mate" is not considered by the court unless not to do so would create a hardship for the child.

The court has no discretion but to calculate and make an order for guideline child support.

The court considers child care which is added to the guideline amount and is usually split equally between the parties.

The court considers whether one parent or both are paying medical insurance premiums for the children.

The court may consider other factors such as private school tuition, travel costs if the parents live in different cities, and other discretionary items.

The parents are free to make an agreement as to the amount of support one parent is to pay the other parent and, in most cases, the court will accept this agreement, even if the amount is different from what guideline support would be.

In cases where one parent has periods of unemployment such as someone working in the entertainment field, or fluctuating income, the court will average the income over a period of time.

In cases where one parent may receive a bonus or have occasional overtime, the court can order that the parent with the overtime or bonus pay a percentage to the other parent if and when received.

Child support is payable until a child reaches the age of 19, reaches the age of 18 and is no longer a full-time high school student, dies, marries, or becomes emancipated. The parties may agree on how to share the costs of college for a child, but a court has no jurisdiction to order a parent to contribute to a child's college education. If the parties make an agreement about this, however, a court can enforce that agreement.

SPOUSAL SUPPORT

California has both temporary and post-judgment spousal support. Temporary spousal support is usually ordered by the court or agreed upon by the parties shortly after the date of separation. The purpose of temporary support is to maintain the status quo to permit the parties time to reorganize their financial lives. If one spouse has not been working, he or she may need some time to either get training or get a job.

When the parties negotiate a complete resolution of their family law issues or their case is heard by a court, whether a spouse needs some post-judgment support is considered. If a marriage is less than 10 years, it may be treated as a marriage of short duration. A spouse who has been married for less than 10 years may only receive spousal support for a period of half the length of the marriage unless he or she is disabled or has other reasons why support should be for a longer period.

If a spouse has been married for longer than 10 years, the person may have a right to life-time support. However, the supported spouse is expected to obtain training if he or she has been out of the labor market for some period of time so employment can be obtained. There are more than 10 factors which are considered when looking at the issue of post-judgment support. A supported spouse would be mistaken, however, if he or she thinks that they will not be expected to work. If the other spouse had earnings which are much higher than the supported spouse can earn, even after getting a paying position, some spousal support may still be paid. Again, this is a matter for negotiation.

If a spouse is self-employed or owns a company, it may be necessary to retain the services of a forensic accountant to assist a party in determining what the earnings of the other spouse really are. A person may chose to operate his or her own business, but not at the expense of the children or other spouse. If a salaried person with the skills of that spouse would earn $120,000 and the person earns less than that operating his/her own business, this may not be permitted, particularly where there are children.

If a spouse receives income-producing assets in a property division in a dissolution action, the court can consider the income from these assets. A spouse cannot invest his or her assets in non-income producing items, with the possible exception of purchasing a replacement residence.

Spousal support is usually taxable as income to the recipient and is deductible to the payor. Nontaxable spousal support can occur in negotiated settlements. The income tax consequences of spousal support affect the net amount received by the supported spouse.