Legal Question in Family Law in California
Can you get child support with joint custody of the kids?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Since child support is based on timeshare and parent incomes, the answer could be yes.
Joint custody and even 50/50 shared custody is not a barrier to child support. Child support is based on a complex formula in the Family Code that is so complicated the courts require everyone to use approved software (most people use Dissomaster) to figure it out. The broad outline of what it does, however, is it compares the amount of time the child(ren) spend with each parent, and the "spendable" income of each parent (what is "spendable income" is where it gets complicated). It then calculates a payment from one parent to the other such that the portion of income allocated to the child (not all income, but the portion allocated to the child (another part that is complex)) by the formula is roughly the same in each household. So only if the custodial time is exactly 50/50 AND both parents "spendable income" turns out to be the same, or the ratio of time and "spendable income" differential was the same, would there be zero support.