Legal Question in Family Law in California
OK, My wife and I have been seperated for over a year now but have not filed for divorce or separation. We have two children and I pick them up every other weekend and i also give her an agreed amount by check every two weeks. She is now coming to me saying that she needs to move out of her apartment to a single bedroom where she will not be paying rent and cannot care for the children. She wants me to take the children and she wants to see them every sunday. Is there a document or a notarized form that we can creat to make it where she needs to pay me child support? We are reviewing the divorce issue at this time but she wants me to take the kids now, so i want to have it in some sort of writing. please advise.
2 Answers from Attorneys
You can request that she help support the children but it must be done through Child support services or you can file a custody action and request child support. I would wait until you have the children for a significant amount of time before requesting support otherwise she will just seek to have them to avoid paying support.
Notarizing, etc. means nothing legally. You really need to file for separation or divorce and get the ball rolling. The kids need some stability, and only a court order is going to be enforceable if people start becoming disagreeable, which often happens as time goes on (and new gfs and bfs become involved). You can determine what the Judge may order if you went to Court by using this calculator: http://www.childsup.ca.gov/Resources/CalculateChildSupport/tabid/114/Default.aspx
but it can be a little confusing and difficult, and there are many exceptions, but hopefully it can provide you with some guidance. You may want to set up a free consultation with a local attorney to discuss the options.
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