In many family law cases, parents in Claremont and the other eastern Los Angeles County communities might treat child support as a lower-priority issue when compared to custody or parenting time.
Like other states, California has a formula and several rules which guide this state’s judges when awarding child support.
As intended, these rules make calculating child support consistent from one case to another. The amount of support is often predictable.
However, the formula does not make figuring out child support necessarily easy or straightforward. Every case is different.
For example, in high-asset or high-income family law cases, calculating child support can get complicated even with a formula. This is one reason why established professionals and other high-net-worth couples should consider child support a priority issue in their family law cases.
How can child support get complicated in high-asset cases?
There are several ways in which child support gets more complicated when the parents have a lot of wealth between them:
- High-earners frequently receive income from a variety of sources. Many of these streams of income, an interest in a business, for example, are not easy for a court to evaluate. Especially if a parent is trying to understate how much they make, a court may have to review financial records, business ledgers and other documents in detail.
- Many times, high earners will have a special situation that allows them to argue that the court should not apply California’s support Guidelines strictly. For example, a high-earner may argue that strictly applying the Guidelines would require them to pay far more than what their children require.
- Couples with wealth frequently have additional expenses such as the cost of a private school or a tutor. The court may account for these additional expenses.
Ultimately, a Los Angeles area parent’s rights and responsibilities with respect to child support will depend on their circumstances. They should speak to an experienced family law attorney if they have questions or concerns.