Local Family Law Attorney – Responsibility for a Child
Regardless if you have been granted sole custody or not, the state of California very specifically states both parents have a parental rights to financially support their children. This holds true even for parents who do not see a child regularly or have no contact with their children but have been deemed as the biological parent on a birth certificate. Therefore, it is both prudent and essential to hire a child support attorney to assist you.
If you are a parent trying to obtain legal custody from your child’s other parent or a parent who owes back child support, you may be facing many legal issues. It doesn’t matter if you were ever married to the other parent; all children are eligible to receive support from both biological parents.
Many factors determine how much a person is liable to pay towards a child support obligation. The court uses a mathematical formula that factors the number of children you and the other parent have together, how much time each of you spends with the child, both of your incomes, various mandatory wage deductions such as taxes, union dues, and medical insurance premiums, and various other less common factors.
The Judge will input those factors into a calculator, and the calculator will determine a “guideline” support amount. If you do not know the important factors in a child support calculation, you may end up paying too much, or receiving too little, in support.
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California’s child support guidelines express the following requirements:
- Depending on a parent’s circumstances and station in life, he/she must support his/her children
- Both parents are mutually responsible for the financial well-being of their children
- Each parent’s income will be evaluated to determine the level of responsibility the parent should possess when contributing to the child’s financial needs.
- Each parent should provide for the financial well-being of his/her children based on their ability.
- The interests of the children are the State of California’s primary concern.
- Children should share in the standard of living of both parents
- The parent with primary physical responsibility for the children should contribute a significant portion of his/her resources to support the children
- California child support orders must ensure that the children receive fair, timely, and sufficient support reflecting California’s high standard of living costs.
- At McKean Family Law A.P.C., we will do everything we can to fight for your best interests and future while keeping your children’s needs and livelihood at the forefront. If you work with us, our firm commits to treating you as an individual and parent, not simply as a client. We will offer you our compassion, understanding, and care, as well as our passionate legal representation.