Raising children in California is not always easy. Parents need to ensure that their children are receiving the basics such as food shelter and clothing, but there is much more to raising children than just the basics. Children need to complete their school work, they are involved in various activities, they get hurt and sick and will need medical attention from time to time. All of this can be difficult to keep up with, but in addition to being difficult at times it is also costly.
Ensuring children’s needs are met can be expensive. However, parents are expected to pay for their needs. If parents are married or living together, ensuring these are being paid for can be relatively simple. However, if parents are divorced or separated it can be more difficult to ensure that both parents are contributing to the children’s financial needs, especially if one parent has sole custody. So, in order to ensure this happens, divorced parents usually have child support orders requiring one parent to pay the other a certain amount each month for the needs of the children.
The amount that a parent will pay for child support is determined by the child support guidelines. These guidelines are based on a few different factors, but one of the main factors is the income of each parent. Income includes more than just one’s regular paycheck from their job. It also includes commissions, bonuses, dividends, rental income, pensions, unemployment benefits, workers’ compensation benefits, social security benefits, self-employment income and other forms of income as well.
Part of the job of a parent in California is to ensure that their children have their basic needs met. This can be costly for parents, but it is the responsibility of both parents to ensure this happens. This is true whether the parents are married, divorced or never married at all. To ensure this happens when people are no longer together, people usually have child support orders. These can be complicated even though there are guidelines stating presumed child support amounts. Experienced attorneys understand the law and may be able to guide one through the process.
