Child support is the amount of money that a court orders a parent or both parents to pay every month to help pay for the support of the child (or children) and the child’s living expenses.  

Every county has a Family Law Facilitator who will help you for free to:

  • Prepare forms
  • Explain court procedures for getting and changing child support orders
  • Calculate child support using the guideline calculator, if you have the necessary financial information
  • Explain how the court makes child support decisions

How Child Support Starts:

  • Each parent is equally responsible for providing for the financial needs of his or her child.  The court cannot enforce this obligation until it makes an order for support.  When parents separate, a parent must ask the court to make an order establishing parentage (paternity) and also ask the court to make an order for child support.   
  • Child support payments are usually made until children turn 18 (or 19 if they are still in high school full-time, living at home, and cannot support themselves.
  • Either parent can ask the judge to make a child support order as part of one of these types of cases:
  • Divorce, legal separation, or annulment (for parents who are married or in a registered domestic partnership)
  • A Petition to Establish Parental Relationship (for unmarried parents)
  • A domestic violence restraining order (for married or unmarried parents)

OR

  • A Petition for Custody or Support of Minor Children (for parents who have signed a Voluntary Declaration of Parentage of Paternity OR are married, or registered domestic partners, and do not want to get legally separated or divorced).
  • If one of the parents has been receiving public assistance (like cash aid), the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS), also known as the Local Child Support Agency (LCSA), automatically files a child support case against the noncustodial parent.  The case also includes as a party the custodial parent that is receiving public assistance.
  • Either parent can ask the LCSA to provide child support services, which will then start a child support case.
  • If a child is in foster care, the LCSA may start a child support case against one or both parents
  • Either parent can ask the LCSA to take over enforcement of a child support order in a family law case

**If DCSS is involved in your case, please read the Department of Child Support Services article to better understand your case. 

Calculating Child Support:

California has a statewide formula (called a “guideline”) for figuring out how much child support should be paid.  If parents cannot agree on child support, the judge will decide the child support amount based on the guideline calculation.  Parents can agree to zero child support but cannot agree to waive child support as it is for the children.  An agreement on child support must include a guideline calculation to be approved by the court.

The guideline calculation depends on:

  • Income:  Gross monthly income (before taxes) of each parent from all sources
  • Children:  The number of children the parents have together
  • Timeshare:  The actual amount of time each parent spends with the children
  • Taxes:  The actual tax filing status of each parent 
  • Support:  Child support paid for children from other relationships
  • Health insurance:  The cost of health insurance paid by each parent
  • Union dues:  The monthly cost of union dues deducted from a parent’s paycheck
  • Retirement:  The monthly cost of mandatory retirement deducted from a parent’s paycheck and/or amount of voluntary contributions
  • Add-ons:  The cost of sharing daycare and uninsured health care costs
  • Other:  There are other factors that can be considered as well (link to the calculator) 

The guideline amount is presumed to be correct.  The judge can only order something other than the guideline amount in very limited situations.  Read California Family Code sections 4052 through 4057 for more detail on calculating child support and what the judge can do. 

Figuring Out “Income” to Calculate Child Support

The court bases child support on a parent’s “net disposable income”.  This means the parent’s income after state and federal taxes and other required deductions.  This includes non-taxable income such as military allowances and disability.  The court may order support based in part on bonuses, commissions, overtime, and other supplemental or non-wage income if the court determines that this income occurs regularly.  It is important to complete the Income and Expense Declaration completely and correct to ensure the court has all the information needed to make an order.

Certain income is NOT counted when determining a child support obligation.  For example, the court cannot consider income from:

  • CalWorks
  • General Assistance/General Relief, or
  • SSI (Supplemental Security Income)

The child support order may also require the parents to share the costs for: 

  • Childcare to allow the parent to work or to get training or schooling for work skills 
  • Children’s reasonable health care expenses
  • Traveling for visitation from one parent to another
  • Children’s educational needs
  • Other special needs

The guideline amount is presumed to be correct.  The judge can only order something other than the guideline amount in very limited situations.  Read California Family Code sections 4052 through 4057 for more detail on calculating child support and what the judge can do. 

Falling Behind in Child Support:

  • If you fall behind in child support payments, you must pay interest on the balance due on top of the amount you owe.  Interest charges are added by law, and the judge cannot stop them.  
  • Interest is:
    • 10 percent per year for child support that was due on or after January 1, 1983; or
    • 7 percent per year for child support that was due before January 1, 1983. 
  • If you fall behind in child support payments, you must pay interest on the balance due on top of the amount you owe.  Interest charges are added by law, and the judge cannot stop them. 
  • If you we arrears (past-due child support), it is possible that your court order or wage assignment (garnishment) if there is one, will include an amount over the monthly child support.  This amount goes to paying off your arrears, and it is often called a “liquidation amount”.  But even if you are paying off your arrears in installments, interest continues to be added to your balance.
  • Not paying child support can have very serious consequences.  If the court finds that someone has the ability to pay support but is willfully not paying it, the court can decide that the person ordered to pay support is “in contempt of court”.  Being in contempt of court can be very serious because it can result in jail time.  This enforcement tool is generally used only when all others have failed.

Changing Child Support:

Depending on the situation, either parent might want to change the amount of child support that is paid.  Changes in child support often make sense if either parent has had a significant change related to

  • His or her income
  • The other parent’s income
  • The amount of time that each parent spends with the children

Once you ask the court to modify the amount of child support, the court will make its decision based on the current circumstances (main both parents’ income and time share with the children.  This means that the child support amount could go either up or down.  If you are not sure whether the change in circumstances will result in an increase or a decrease, you ca ask the Family Law Facilitator in your county to help calculate the estimates for you before you file papers to go to court.  

IMPORTANT! If you are the parent paying child support, you will still owe the full amount of support in your current court order until you get the order changed - even if your situation has changed.  So, for example, if you lose your job today but you do not change your child support order until 3 months from now, you will still owe child support from today until 3 months from now, even though you were not working.  Also, if you owe that amount but are unable to pay it, you will owe interest (at the rate of 10 percent per year) on any unpaid balance.

Ending Child Support

Usually, court ordered child support ends when the child turns 18 years old if he or she graduates from high school.  If your 18-year-old child is still a full-time high school student and still lives with a parent, child support ends when your child graduates or turns 19, whichever occurs first.  

Child support also ends when the child:

  • Marries or registers a domestic partnership
  • Joins the military
  • Is emancipated
  • Passes away

Parents may agree to support a child longer.  The court may also order that both parents continue to support a disabled adult child that cannot support himself or herself.  

IMPORTANT! If there is an Income Withholding Order (wage assignment) in effect, the garnishment of your wages does not end when child support ends.  Your employer will need an amended order that either changes the monthly amount or terminates it to zero.  You can amend or end the order by filing a stipulation, filing a Request for Order, or by scheduling an ex parte.  

The San Diego County Family Law Facilitator's Office is a court-funded program staffed by attorneys, paralegals and court clerks who provide free legal assistance to unrepresented family law litigants. Request assistance to review your options.