Under California law, both parents have an obligation to share in the financial requirements of raising their children. Both parents must do their part in contributing to the well-being of your children, including their financial needs. Children need shelter, food, medical care, education, clothing, and protection from birth through their being reared into adulthood. This is true whether or not the children's parents are - or, ever have been, married.
The obligation to support one's children exists regardless of whether there is a court order or not. In the event that one parent is not doing their part, the California legal system is available to help. Court orders can be obtained to require the parents to perform this responsibility, to allocate the financial responsibilities between the parents, and to enforce the obligation against the parents in the event of non-compliance with the Court orders.
These court orders will be obtained upon application by a party to the court for the order or, whenever the court is making custodial decisions concerning the children, since the custodial welfare of the children, inherently requires the financial means to rear them. After the orders are obtained, they may be modified as circumstances change.
Child support orders are largely based on formulas that have been carefully worked out by the state legislature. The formulas consider several factors, including the parents' income, their respective percentage of time that they are responsible for the care of their children, the parents' ability to earn income, and other factors. These orders may include an obligation to pay a certain amount of money to the other parent on a monthly or semi-monthly basis, an obligation to contribute to, or provide, health insurance, an obligation to contribute to the payment of unreimbursed medical-related expenses (including dental and mental health), an obligation to contribute towards educational expenses, and even towards extracurricular expenses.
In the event that a parent does not comply with an existing child support order, an arrearage develops, which means that the amount of money that was supposed to be timely paid, is still owed, plus interest at the legal rate (currently 10% simple interest per annum). In addition to numerous steps that a parent may take to collect on this debt, the recalcitrant parent may be in held in contempt in court for failing to obey the court order requiring the payment of child support.
If you have a child, and you are concerned about the financial contribution by the other parent towards your child, or, the other parent has brought an application to the court concerning your own contribution, then, in addition to the laws concerning the determination of these respective obligations, there are various court procedural requirements to be met in order to protect each parents' constitutional due process rights of notice and a meaningful right to be heard.
We are available to consult with you when you are ready to discuss these important matters concerning your children.
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