Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: child support

Usually a court will not make you pay for private school if there is public school available. The court will usually allow a parent to put the kid in private school but it must come out of that parent's pocket.

Re: child support

Go back to court. File a motion granting you joint input regarding ALL issues. Also ask the court to impute income to her and modify c/s downwards (assuming that it is not low now). If she's not working and does not need to work, then I suppose her expenses as listed on her Income and Expense Dec would equal her "net income". Get a specific order that the schools shall give you all info you desire.

Your ex will take as much as you let her.

Re: child support

The school is required by law to give you information. As your court order stands, you may not have equal decision making power, but you do have the right to ask about his attendance, report cards, etc. You are still a parent and a joint custodian, and unless your court order specifically says that you cannot have access to that information, the school is required to be responsive to your requests. Please be polite, and help them to honor your requests by giving them stamped, self-addressed envelopes and photocopying charges for anything you'd like sent to you, for example. I recently attended a "school orders" seminar at the California Bar conference, and if you'll provide me with a fax number or mailing address, I'd be happy to send you a copy of the suggested order regarding school information and access which they provided as part of the materials. My phone number is (310) 829-9722. Good luck.