Legal Question in Family Law in California

Soon to be ex is asking for value of combined SS/CS to remain same after my daughter turns 18 yo in 8 months & grads H/S. In other words she wants SS to increase after CS runs out to compensate for loss of CS. Her angle is that her support income shouldnt drop & that's it common now & that its also a Tax benefit for me. I am thinking hey - why not keep the monthly exoense savins & not have to pay tax on the difference ? - what is she trying to "pull" here as the Mediator seems unphased by it all ??

Asked on 11/15/12, 1:18 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

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There is no reason her net support income should remain the same. Child support ends at 18+graduation because the custodial parent is no longer financially responsible for the child either. Your child support payments have been to offset her expenses for being financially responsible for your daughter. Once that ends, her expenses are legally less. Why does she think her payments should stay the same? The only thing that is right is that shifting the reason for support from split between SS and CS to all SS will be tax advantaged to you, because only SS is deductible to you and taxable to her. CS is not. The bottom line is that her SS should be calculated based on all the statutory factors once your daughter graduates - without regard to what she was and will not be getting for CS.

Answered on 11/15/12, 12:12 pm

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