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Child & spousal support
Support cases look like arithmetic and are actually about evidence. The guideline software produces whatever number the inputs dictate, so the case is won or lost on income findings, timeshare, and the structure of the order. I handle support at every stage: temporary orders, judgment, modification, and enforcement.
Guideline child support in California depends on net income and custodial time. The common disputes are self-employment income, cash businesses, imputed income for a parent who is underemployed, add-ons for childcare and uninsured medical costs, and the treatment of bonuses and stock compensation. In San Mateo and San Francisco the Department of Child Support Services can open a case at no charge, but it will not address custody and it moves at its own pace; many parents retain counsel for the custody side and let DCSS handle collection.
Temporary support during the case is formula-driven. Long-term support at judgment is a judgment call under the statutory factors, and in a marriage of ten years or more the court keeps jurisdiction indefinitely. These cases are built on the record: the marital standard of living, each spouse's actual earning capacity, the supported spouse's efforts to become self-supporting, and the supporting spouse's ability to pay. A history of domestic violence weighs heavily.
Much of my practice involves spouses in technology, finance and medicine, where base salary is a fraction of total compensation. RSU vesting schedules, option grants, carried interest and deferred bonuses need to be characterized for property purposes and structured for support purposes at the same time, and the two analyses interact.
Orders can be changed when circumstances change: job loss, a new custody schedule, retirement, remarriage of the supported spouse. Orders can also be enforced through wage assignments, liens, contempt and, for unpaid support, interest at ten percent per year. Waiting to address either is expensive.
By a statewide guideline formula based on each parent's net disposable income and the percentage of time each has the child. The inputs are where the fights are: what counts as income, how bonuses and equity are treated, and what the real timeshare is.
Temporary spousal support, during the case, is usually set by a guideline formula. Long-term support in the judgment is not; the court weighs the statutory factors, including the marital standard of living, each spouse's earning capacity, the length of the marriage, and any history of domestic violence.
Variable income is typically handled with a percentage order on income above base salary, commonly called a Smith/Ostler order, rather than by guessing at an average. Getting the structure right matters more than the base number.
Child support can be modified on a change in circumstances; long-term spousal support can be modified unless the judgment makes it non-modifiable. Informal agreements to pay less are not enforceable and arrears accrue at ten percent interest.
Most people call after something has already gone wrong. The better time is before. Tell me where things stand and I'll tell you what I would do first.
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