Legal Question in Family Law in California
How are custody hours calculated?
My ex has primary physical custody. The amount of support I pay is determined in part by the percentage of custody time I have with the children. Does she get credit for time when the children are in school, even though they're not in her direct custody during those hours? Would it be different if I dropped them off and/or picked them up from school?
3 Answers from Attorneys
Re: How are custody hours calculated?
school time is given to whichever parent has custody that day and is responsible to pick up the child during school hours if needed.
Re: How are custody hours calculated?
The computer program for support is intended to allocate the support of the child between the parents. The parent who has the child the majority of the time incurrs more expenses for the child than the other parent. Per cent of visitation can be calculated on the hours that the child is with a parent, or a day or fractions of a day. The court would probably not accept the time taking the children to and from the school as custodial time.
Changing the percent of visitation by a few per centage points makes little difference in the amount of support that must be paid.
You should calculate the amount support including this time and without this time as a part of the visitation per centage value. This will allow you to determine whether it is worth the effort.
Re: How are custody hours calculated?
The judges in San Diego County have decided that the time with the non-primary custodial parent begins when they pick up the child and ends when they deliver the child to day care, school or the home of the primary custodial parent. Therefore, if you were to have the child from after school on Tuesday until drop off at school on Thursday, the school time for Wednesday would be credited to your time share and Monday and Thursday to the primary custodial parent. Only if you have the child before school and after school on the same day will the time be credited to you. You can read the San Diego County local rules on calculating time share at www/sandiegocourts.ca.gov/superior/online/rules. It is Division 5, rule 12.1B. The state law does not mandate how to calculate the timeshare on this issue. The San Diego judges, to their credit, have choosen to be consistent in calculating the timeshare. Other counties can have different rules or no rules so that it would be up to the individual judge. Good Luck, Pat McCrary
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
