Legal Question in Family Law in California
I need some advice regarding what i think is a mix of family and child support. my ex girlfriend and I split up in december and from that point until now, things have bounced back and forth from being civil and hostile. we have yet to go through the court system to handle anything wanting to save that as an absolute last resort, but in that time I have been providing her with funds or support for our daughter. My bigger concern is that not to long after we had gotten together years ago, i opened a phone line under my account for her to use at her request since she did not have one and needed one. since the split it has become a bit of a cause for concern. i feel since it was a service that she wanted she should now pay for. We made a somewhat arrangement that the cost of what I would potentially charge her for her line of service would be deducted from the total amount of the support that we agreed upon. on a nearly daily basis, it has gone back and forth with her insistence to return the phone to me and do with it what I want, but i could continue to deduct the amount of the service until the contract for that phone ran out as long as it is within a somewhat reasonable amount of time. She took it upon herself to make plan and arrange to sell the phone being used on that line for money that she herself said was going to be used towards obtaining needs and necessities for our daughter. I have received numerous emails today saying that she was not counting the money that she got from the phone to go towards a support payment even though she had stated the phone itself was my property. Therein lies the friction that we are having right now and would like to know what is suggested regarding this matter.
1 Answer from Attorneys
You need to consult with a family law attorney as soon as possible. First, child support is a separate obligation from spousal support. You need to identify what you are paying to your former girlfriend and mother of your child as "child support". You need to get this formalized in the form of a court order.
The telephone service while it may have started as something you were providing your former girlfriend as part of your relationship, it is now basically part of the support you have provided her historically in the relationship. You need to discuss or work with a mediator to determine what would be a fair resolution, possibly you taking back the phone and agreeing to pay for less costly service for your former girlfriend.
The bottom line is this: you need to work things out and the dispute concerning the phone is an indicator that this will not be easy. Focus on being fair and practical. Good luck with this.
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