Child support is the amount one spouse has to pay the other after a divorce or custody case to be spent on the needs of the parties’ child. Child support cases can sometimes be a little complex in nature while most commonly they are contested in courts by both parties rigorously. There are often times though, when a spouse can fight the child support case just because they can, which ultimately causes them a financial setback. Here are instances when fighting a child support case might not be worth it.
The Case For The W-2 Employees That Have An Agreement On Visitation
In the case of those parents that are W-2 wage earners, which means that they are paid through pay check and taxes are automatically deducted from it and such parents have an agreement on the visitation time percentage between each, which can be 50/50 to 10/90, the child support issue is not a difficult issue at all and can be resolved quickly.
The amount of child support in such cases is calculated through computer software, such as Dissomaster and Xspouse, which are based on the statewide formula for child support under California Family Code section 4055. The program processes the data that’s entered in it and gives an amount of “guideline” child support that should be paid. Such cases are simple and should be mutually decided between the parties and their lawyers instead of going to court.
Self-Employed Income Earners
The case of a self-employed spouse is usually a more complex case, with each spouse having different accounts of the self employed spouse’s income. These cases often end up in Orange County family law courts. The need for litigation in this matter is felt, because child support and its amount depends on the income of the parent and disagreement on the income needs to be resolved in court before the child support amount can be calculated.
Disagreements Concerning The Parenting Schedule
The above two examples also require an agreement or court order on what percentage timeshare each parent has with the child. The amount of time spent with the child is a major component in calculating child support. The custodial schedule must be either agreed to between the parties or otherwise determined by the court before the amount of child support can be calculated. The percentage timeshare is determined most accurately by calculating the number of hours that each parent has per year or month and divided by the number of hours in the corresponding year or month.
Gerald A. Maggio is an experienced Orange County divorce and family law attorney and family law attorney located in Irvine, California, serving the Orange County and Riverside areas. Mr. Maggio assists clients with legal issues including divorce, legal separation, divorce mediation, child custody, prenuptial agreements, stepparent adoptions, and other family law issues. Mr. Maggio has practiced law in California since 1999, and founded The Maggio Law Firm in 2005, focusing exclusively on divorce and family law matters.
