Divorce can be hard on everyone in the family, as it’s often a tumultuous process. However, it can be particularly stressful for children. As child custody and support issues affect your family, ensuring you have a qualified attorney ready to help ensure the non-custodial parent’s payments are fair is essential. If you and your spouse have separated, understanding how much child support you need to pay or receive is crucial. Keep reading to learn more about how it is calculated and whether or not remarrying can affect payments. You’ll also discover how Los Angeles child support attorneys can assist you during your legal battle.
What Factors Influence Child Support?
There are many factors that influence how much each parent will owe towards payments. Generally, states use a formula to calculate how much you will owe. However, California’s formula is quite challenging to understand, so ensuring you have the guidance of an attorney to help is crucial.
To begin calculating how much you owe, you’ll need to gather each parent’s gross and disposable income, how many children are receiving support, how much time each child spends with each parent, and other childcare costs.
Traditionally, the higher-earning spouse is responsible for paying child support. However, if the higher-earning spouse is the custodial parent, the lower-income parent will be responsible for making payments.
What Happens if My Ex-Spouse or I Remarry?
If Parent A receives child support payments from Parent B and Parent B gets remarried, it will most likely not impact payments. This is because the courts will only consider the biological parents of the child or children involved when deciding on payment.
However, if Parent B has another child with their new partner, their payments to Parent A will remain the same.
There are specific circumstances where Parent B may be able to lower payments. If Parent A remarries a person with a substantial income, the court could decrease the amount Parent B will pay each month for child support.
Do I Need a Lawyer?
In general, it’s always best to have an attorney when dealing with child support or custody battles. Because these are highly contentious issues, ensuring you have someone well-versed in the courtroom and behind the scenes of the legal battle is crucial.
Similarly, if there are additional expenses, your lawyer can work with your ex-spouse’s attorney to ensure there is a payment plan set up. If they cannot agree, a judge will create the order.
At the Zitser Family Law Group, APC, we’re dedicated to putting the needs of your children first. We will work tirelessly to ensure your family receives the correct payments in order to guarantee the well-being and happiness of your children.
