Legal Question in Family Law in California

I currently have my six year old daughter 5 out of the seven days, sometimes longer. Now, after 3 years of me and her mother not being together (never married) she is talking about child support. I have a home, a good paying job and my daughter goes to school in my district and her mother has no stable house (when she does is about 90 miles away), she has no job and I feel like she wants to ask me for child support to help her get back on her feet.We currently have a court ordered agreement that was initiated by myself to have our visiting agreement on paper. But since, it has changed by me having my daughter with me as described. Is she obligated to get money from me even with all those "issues" that she has?


Asked on 7/20/11, 3:42 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Arlene Kock Law Offices of Arlene D. Kock APLC

Child support is calculated based on 3 key factors: gross incomes of the parties, timeshare with the child and any tax advantages/disadvantages. Your fact pattern suggests the mother is not working. Even if she has less time with the child than you do, she may be entitled to child support due to the difference of your incomes. If the mother has the ability to work and is unwilling to do so, the court has the power to impute income to her as if she was working thereby offsetting the level of your support obligation.

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Answered on 7/20/11, 3:49 pm
Rhonda Ellifritz Law Offices of Rhonda Ellifritz

You need to file an OSC and get the current visitation down on paper and signed by a judge. Don't try to do things cheap, because it costs more in the end, believe me. Noncustodial parents usually have income imputed to them, because otherwise they are not providing their fair share to raising the child. If you don't have much income and she is not contributing by keeping the child more or paying you money, bring that fact out. If there is not much income between the parties, the reality is that there is likely not enough to sustain two households. She has to do her part.

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Answered on 7/21/11, 10:22 am


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