Legal Question in Family Law in California

Yes, each parent's income, certain deductions, and percentage of custodial time for each parent, are plugged into a court approved computer program that calculates support. Basically it calculates each spouse's spendable income (not what you and I might think that means, but rather a number the legislature says it is based on a formula they put in the Family Code). Then the formula determines a percentage of that which you are expected to spend on your children, which varries again according to the formula, particularly with the nubmer of kids. Then it assumes you each spend the same percentage of that amount during your custodial time as your custodial time. So say for simple numbers your spendable income is $5000/mo. and the formula says you are supposed to spend 40% of that on your kids, or $2000. If you have the kids 60% of the time then it assumes you spend $1,200/mo while they are with you, and $800 goes into the support adjustment. Then say your spouse earns $4,000/mo and the formula says they are supposed to spend 40% on the kids, that's $1,600. They have the kids 40% of the time, so they are assumed to be spending $640/mo while the kids are with them. That leaves $960 that goes into the support adjustment. That would result in a $160/mo child support payment to you. Bear in mind that these numbers are pure fabrication and have not been run through the formula. They are just simple numbers to show the steps of the calculation.