Legal Question in Family Law in California

My husband is an active duty soldier. He has two children from a previous relationship. He does owe some back child support in addition to current child support which the Army automatically deducts from his base pay (to cover both the back and current payments). This automatic deduction equates to nearly half of his base pay.

I earn significantly more than my husband does (almost double his salary). Can his ex take us to court to try to obtain more support based on my higher income? We do have joint bank accounts and will be filing a joint tax return for 2013 (and we are fully aware that any refund will automatically be redirected toward the back child support, which we are perfectly OK with. We anticipate the back shild support will be paid in full by mid 2014). I am just concerned that his ex, or even the state of CA will determine that the amount of child support payments must increase due to my higher salary and its implications to our take-home pay.


Asked on 12/04/13, 9:11 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

It doesn't work that way. Your income is used in support calculations only for how it impacts taxes, deductions, etc. Only his income is used for the actual support calculations. So if his withholding or the taxes owed on his income go up or down bases on being married to you, the support could go up or down a bit, but it will not go up just because he now has a household income that includes yours.

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Answered on 12/04/13, 9:54 am


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