Child Support

Excerpt from California Family Codes

• A parent's first and principal obligation is to support his/her minor children according to the parent's circumstances and station in life. [FC 4053(a)]
• A parent shall pay the Court-ordered child support payment (as the first priority) before payment of any debts owed to creditors. (FC 4011)
• Each parent has equal responsibility to support the child. (FC 3900)
• Court may order discretionary add-on child support for child's special education and visitation travel expenses. (FC 4062)
• Court shall order mandatory add-on child support for child care related to work, reasonable and necessary education/training and reasonable child's uninsured health care costs. (FC 4062)
• Court may allow income deductions for extreme financial hardship due to justifiable expenses such as extraordinary health expenses, uninsured catastrophic losses, minimum basic living expenses of natural or adopted children who reside with the parent. (FC 4070/4071)
• Child support is determined by income of the parties, number of children, tax filing status, share of physical responsibility for the child, hardship deductions (extraordinary health expenses, children from other relationship/marriage, catastrophic losses). (FC 4055)
• Support continues until age 19 while still in high school, completion of high school and over 18 or self-supporting. (FC 3900)
• A person providing a child with necessaries of life is entitled to reimbursement. (FC 3950)
• Child support may be retroactive to the filing date of Order to Show Cause/Notice of Motion. (FC 3653/4009)
• A disabled adult child is entitled to child support. (FC 3910)
• The state uniform guidelines considers each parent's actual income and level of responsibility for the children. (FC 4053)

You can also visit the Self-Help Center at the California Courts website at http://www.courts.ca.gov/selfhelp.htm for additional information and forms.

For additional information or assistance with collecting or enforcing child support, please contact the Stanislaus County Department of Child Support Services at (866) 901-3212. Visit their website at the following address: http://www.stancodcss.org