Child Support - What is it?
In California, the law says that every parent has a duty to financially support his or her child. (See California Family Code, Section 3900) Child support ensures that every child has the food, clothing, medical care and ability to get an education that will enable him or her to have a successful life.
Normally, parents can agree on how much money is fair and reasonable to take care of their child. However, if they cannot agree, the court may be requested to order one parent to pay the other parent a specific amount of money every month to help pay for a child’s living expenses. This is called “court-ordered child support.”
To help parents who cannot come to an agreement about child support on their own, California has established a formula to calculate what a non-custodial parent should pay for child support. The formula takes into account each parent's actual income and the amount of time that the child spends with the parent.
|This website’s general information is very helpful for everyone in California.
To find your county court’s website to learn about extra forms or procedures, click here.