Essential Guidelines for Calculating Child Support

How Is Child Support Calculated?

The family law courts in California follow specific guidelines when determining child support payments. That’s true whether you turn to the courts to help you iron out an initial child support agreement after divorce, you are an unmarried mother seeking child support, or you need a child support modification.

While parents can come to their own agreements in some cases, it’s helpful to understand some of the child support terms and the guideline formula used by the court. This also helps you understand decisions the court might make and what flexibility, if any, there may be for child support agreements.

The Child Support Guideline Formula

The guideline formula used by California courts looks like this:

CS = K[HN – (H%)(TN)]

The components of the formula are:

• CS = calculated child support amount
• K = the total amount of income (from both parents) allocated for support of the child
• HN = the monthly disposable income of the higher earning parent
• H% = the amount of time the higher earning parent has physical custody of the child compared to the amount of time the other parent has physical custody
• TN = the total monthly disposable income of both parents

This calculation is meant to determine child support for one child. If there are multiple children involved in a case, specific multipliers increase the calculation. You don’t simply multiply by two if there are two children or by three if there are three children, however. For example, the multiplier used when there are two children to determine total support is 1.6.

Considerations When Support Is Ordered by the Court

The guideline formula involves some fairly complex math, but you can use online calculators to figure out how much child support a court might deem appropriate given these guidelines. However, it’s often easier to simply understand the types of considerations that go into court decisions about child support, especially since judges are not completely bound to the guideline formula if they believe the amount it generates is not appropriate or just.

Parental Income

Family law courts consider the income of both parents. You may need to present documentation of income when seeking or challenging a child support order or modification. This can include tax returns, W2 forms, and bank statements. If you’re in the middle of a child support dispute, you can talk to your family law attorney about what documents may be appropriate or required.

Custodial Time

Courts also consider the custodial time each parent has with the child or children. The courts recognize that the parent with the greater custodial time may incur more expenses related to caring for children. If one parent has a child 75 percent of the time, for example, they are likely paying directly for support of the child during that time. This might reduce how much the court expects them to pay the other parent for support.

Certain Necessary Expenses

In some cases, the court will consider factors that aren’t well represented by the child support guideline formula. One example of this is if a child has special needs that require more expenditures than in average situations. The guideline formula doesn’t account for this type of added expense, so there may need to be negotiations between parents or consideration from the court to account for these types of needs.

Can You Make Your Own Child Support Agreement

If two parents are able to cooperate in child support negotiations and come up with their own agreement, they don’t have to stick to the child support guideline formula. Generally, courts will honor agreements between parents of this nature as long as they don’t obviously endanger the best interests of a child and seem reasonable.

Can Child Support Orders Be Modified?

Child support orders are also not set in stone. There are provisions for seeking modifications should the financial situation change for either parent. You can seek a modification as the parent receiving child support or as the parent paying it if you believe income levels have substantially changed or some other factor has evolved to significantly change the outcome of the child support calculation.

Talk to a Family Law Attorney About Your Child Support Case

While there are guidelines and formulas, every child support case is unique. The courts allow for unique considerations, and it is often good to speak to an experienced family law attorney about your needs, concerns, and goals when it comes to child support.

A lawyer can help you understand what your options are in seeking child support or in protecting yourself against inappropriate child support claims. They can accurately prepare any documents required for child support proceedings, work on your behalf through discovery and other processes if necessary to protect your interests, and help you negotiate an agreement that is good for you and your child or children.

Whether you have questions about seeking a child support modification or you feel you are having a hard time getting the other parent to agree to what seems like reasonable child support, consider bringing a family law attorney into the matter to support you. Call Hepner & Pagan, LLP at 408-688-9153 to find out how we can help with your child support or child support modification case.