Child Support and Spousal Support
CHILD SUPPORT
Child Support refers to a support obligation owing on behalf of a child or an amount owing to a county for reimbursement of public assistance paid on behalf of a child. There is a general obligation by both parents to support their minor children “in the manner suitable to the child's circumstances.”
Child Support in California, with certain exceptions, is usually determined using a statutory guideline formula. The factors that are most relevant in determining the amount of child support are the time share between the parents, the income or earning ability of the parents, tax benefits claimed by the parents, certain mandatory deductions from the parents’ income, and other child support obligations by the parents. The parent that does not have primary physical custody of the child usually end up paying child support.
The family law court's jurisdiction to issue child support orders in a marital action continues even after the final judgment and independent of any reservation of jurisdiction in the judgment. In effect, for child support purposes, a dissolution or legal separation or nullity action remains pending throughout the child's minority as a matter of law. If you have been ordered to pay for child support, whether through a temporary or permanent order, and that amount is more than you can currently afford due to a change in your financial situation, you may be able to modify or lower this amount at any time.
SPOUSAL SUPPORT
As a general rule, for so long as husband and wife or registered domestic partners are living together, they owe each other a mutual duty of support. A spousal support award is not mandatory in dissolution or legal separation proceedings. The Courts have discretion to deny spousal support altogether or to limit it in an amount and duration that reflects the ability of both parties to provide for their own needs.
Spousal support award is judged broadly by the parties' “circumstances” in reference to the standard of living established during their marriage and their respective needs and abilities to pay. Spousal Support becomes more of an issue if there is a big disparity between the earning ability of the spouse’s. Sometimes, one Spouse is in dire need of support pending the divorce or legal separation case that the spouse cannot wait until the final judgment to receive support. Spousal Support may be obtained as a temporary order. Typically, the spouse may also seek an attorney’s fee award to assist that spouse in obtaining competent legal representation.
In determining the permanent spousal support order, the court is bound to consider 14 statutory factors laid out in California Family Code Sec. 4320. So long as the statutory factors are considered and weighed, the ultimate decision rests within the court's broad discretion. These factors are:
(a) The extent to which the earning capacity of each party is sufficient to maintain the standard of living established during the marriage, taking into account all of the following:
- The marketable skills of the supported party; the job market for those skills; the time and expenses required for the supported party to acquire the appropriate education or training to develop those skills; and the possible need for retraining or education to acquire other, more marketable skills or employment.
- The extent to which the supported party's present or future earning capacity is impaired by periods of unemployment that were incurred during the marriage to permit the supported party to devote time to domestic duties.
(b) The extent to which the supported party contributed to the attainment of an education, training, a career position, or a license by the supporting party.
(c) The ability of the supporting party to pay spousal support, taking into account the supporting party's earning capacity, earned and unearned income, assets, and standard of living.
(d) The needs of each party based on the standard of living established during the marriage.
(e) The obligations and assets, including the separate property, of each party.
(f) The duration of the marriage.
(g) The ability of the supported party to engage in gainful employment without unduly interfering with the interests of dependent children in the custody of the party.
(h) The age and health of the parties.
(i) Documented evidence of any history of domestic violence, as defined in Section 6211, between the parties, including, but not limited to, consideration of emotional distress resulting from domestic violence perpetrated against the supported party by the supporting party, and consideration of any history of violence against the supporting party by the supported party.
(j) The immediate and specific tax consequences to each party.
(k) The balance of the hardships to each party.
(l) The goal that the supported party shall be self-supporting within a reasonable period of time. Except in the case of a marriage of long duration as described in Section 4336, a “reasonable period of time” for purposes of this section generally shall be one-half the length of the marriage. However, nothing in this section is intended to limit the court's discretion to order support for a greater or lesser length of time, based on any of the other factors listed in this section, Section 4336, and the circumstances of the parties.
(m) The criminal conviction of an abusive spouse shall be considered in making a reduction or elimination of a spousal support award in accordance with Section 4325.
(n) Any other factors the court determines are just and equitable.
Marriages that are less than 10 years in duration are regarded under the family code as a short-term marriage. Marriage over 10 years are considered long term. This affects the length of the spousal support that the Court may order.