Hanford Child Support Lawyer

If you are going through a divorce or legal separation in California and there are children shared between you and your partner, one of the biggest factors involved in your case will be how to divide the financial responsibility of caring for the children. Our Hanford child support lawyer can help.

At Chase Family Law, our family lawyer has over 30 years of experience handling thousands of cases and is ready to put that experience to use to help determine the right amount of financial support for your children and fight for your rights.

Defining Child Support in Hanford, California

Child support is the amount of money that the court orders one parent to pay the other parent every month for the support of the child(ren). California has a complicated formula for calculating “Guideline Support,” the amount of support that is ordinarily ordered. The court relies on software programs, the most common of which is known as “Dissomaster,” to perform the calculations. We would be pleased to demonstrate the Dissomaster program to you and calculate Guideline Support under your circumstances during your initial, free consultation.

While there are usually no grounds to cause the court to deviate from Guideline Support, there is very often grounds to dispute the figures that relied upon to calculate Guideline Support. For example, if one spouse is not employed, or is not fully employed, the other party may be able to prevail upon the court to “impute” income to that party. That is, the court may calculate child support based on a party’s earning capacity rather than his or her actual earnings. The court is not required to accept the actual income earned by a party.

Child support payments are usually ordered for a child until the child reaches the age of 18. However, if the child turns 18 but remains a full-time high school student and is not emancipated, the court will order support until the child either reaches the age of 19 or graduates high school, whichever comes first. Parents may agree to support a child longer, but absent such an agreement, the court will not order further support, the only exception being that the court may also order both parents to continue to support a disabled adult child that is not self-supporting.

The court may award child support to a parent when the parent is separated from his or her spouse, in the process of a divorce or legal separation, or when paternity has been established for a non-spouse parent.

Our Commitment to Family Law

With years of experience in family law, Chase Family Law is committed to offering personalized legal services tailored to the unique needs of each client. Our practice focuses on a wide range of family law matters, ensuring that every family receives the attention and expertise they deserve. We pride ourselves on our compassionate approach and our dedication to achieving favorable results for our clients.

Calculating Child Support

While the courts will likely rely on certain forms of software to calculate the adequate amount of child support to be awarded in a case, they will also look at certain factors to help them determine the value of this support. These factors can include the following:

• The gross total of wages earned by each parent
• The percentage of time the children involved spend with their noncustodial parent
• Any applicable deductions
• How each parent files their taxes

In a child support case, the gross total of wages earned by each parent includes commissions, salaries, royalties, bonuses, rents, dividends, pensions, interest, wages, annuities, workers’ compensation benefits, trust income, spousal support payments, Social Security benefits, and disability insurance benefits earned or given to that individual.

Additionally, if the courts believe that a currently unemployed parent has the ability and opportunity to make a wage, they can order this parent to make job contacts and assign an income amount to them even if they are not currently earning that amount.

After income is determined in a child support case, the courts will take into consideration certain deductions that may apply. Examples of these deductions can include state and federal taxes, the filing status of the parents and their number of dependents, any mandatory union dues, deductions for health insurance for the parent and their children, any child or spousal support being paid by a court order in another case, and certain job-related costs.

What Does Child Support Cover?

Caring for a child is not cheap, and child support-covered costs tend to go beyond simple necessities like food, clothing, or shelter. In California, other costs may be covered in child support payments, including:

• Medical expenses, insured or uninsured
• Travel or transportation costs
• Educational expenses
• Entertainment
• College tuition and related expenses
• After-school or extracurricular activities

Having an attorney at your side during these cases can help ensure you have correctly calculated all expenses that need to be covered in your situation.

Speak to a Child Support Attorney in Hanford Today

If you are facing a child support case in Hanford, California, Chase Family Law is here to help. Contact our office today to schedule an initial consultation and discuss the next steps in your case. Whether you are the parent seeking support or the one who may be required to pay the support, we are here to help you and offer the legal guidance necessary for your case.