Basics of Child Support

What is child support?

Child support is a monthly payment that a judge can order a PARENT (including an adoptive parent) to make to another parent or caregiver to cover the child’s care and living expenses. State law says that every parent must financially support his or her child.[2530] Usually, the parent who does not have custody of the child (or who has custody some of the time and earns more money) pays child support to the parent or caregiver who has custody of the child most or all of the time.[2531]

  1. 2530

    Cal. Fam. Code § 3900.

  2. 2531

    This is because Cal. Fam. Code § 3900 et seq. says both parents are expected contribute equally to their child’s financial needs.

Who has to pay child support?

A court can only order you to pay child support if you are legally considered to be the child’s mother or father.[2532] You have to pay child support when a family court judge makes a child support order, which says how much each parent is required to pay. A family court judge can make a child support order in any of the following cases (please note: EITHER parent can ask the judge for a child support order in any of the following cases):[2533]

    Divorce, legal separation, or annulment—for parents who are married to each other and want to end their relationship;
    Paternity (parentage)—for parents who are NOT married to each other;
    Petition for Custody and Support of Minor Children—for parents who have signed a voluntary Declaration of Paternity, OR who are married and want to stay married;
    Domestic violence restraining order—for married OR unmarried parents; OR
    In some situations, the Local Child Support Agency (LCSA) may also start a child support case in court against one or both parents/caregivers (see next question for more information about LCSA child support cases).[2534]

In general, you must continue to make child support payments until your child turns 18 years old,[2535] or until the judge or LCSA agrees to change the order. Child support also ends if your parental rights are terminated.[2536]

Do legal guardians have to pay child support?

No.[2537] Child support is a parental responsibility, not a legal guardian’s responsibility, and therefore a judge cannot order a legal guardian to pay child support.[2538] But adoptive parents DO take on a legal financial responsibility to support their adoptive child(ren)—because they assume all legal rights and responsibilities of biological parents (unlike legal guardians).[2539]

  1. 2532

    Cal. Fam. Code § 7570 (a)

  2. 2533

    Cal. Fam. Code § 4001.

  3. 2534

    Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 685.050.

  4. 2535

    Cal. Fam. Code § 3901(a). However, if your child is still in high school and lives with a parent, then child support continues until s/he graduates OR turns 19—whichever happens first. Alternatively, child support can end earlier if/when your child (1) gets married, (2) joins the military, (3) is emancipated, or (4) dies. Or child support may continue for longer if (1) the parents agree to a longer arrangement, or (2) the judge orders both parents to keep supporting a disabled adult child.

  5. 2536

    Cal. Fam. Code § 3901(b).

  6. 2537

    See Cal. Fam. Code § 2351.

  7. 2538

    Cal. Fam. Code 4053.

  8. 2539

    California Courts, Guardianship, http://www.courts.ca.gov/selfhelp-guardianship.htm.

Who receives my child support payments?

In general, your child support payments go to the child’s other parent or caregiver who has physical custody of the child, OR to the state of California if your child receives public benefits or if Child Protective Services (CPS) is involved.

Can you pay child support directly to the legal guardian of a child?

You can pay child support directly to the guardian in an informal capacity. If the guardian or the local child support agency (LCSA) has requested child support in court you will have to pay the state disbursement unit and they will provide support to your child’s guardian.[2540]

  1. 2540

    Cal. State Dep. of Soc. Serv., California State Disbursement Unit, https://www.childsup.ca.gov/payments/statedisbursementunit(sdu).aspx

How will owing child support affect my reentry?

Owing child support can affect every area of your reentry from getting employment to occupational licenses to public benefits and even housing. If you do not make child support payments, you can face such serious consequences as the following:

    If you are employed, your employer will automatically deduct (take away) a portion of your wages to pay your current and/or overdue child support obligations (called a wage assignment or wage garnishment);[2541]
    Your child support payments can be automatically deducted (taken away) from other income and benefits you earn, including state or federal income tax refunds, workers’ compensation benefits, unemployment and state disability benefits, retirement benefits, and lottery winnings;[2542]
    Liens can be placed on your property and bank accounts to pay overdue child support (see PG. 724 for more information about liens;[2543]
    Your driver’s license, occupational license, and commercial or recreational licenses may be suspended, revoked, or denied;[2544]
    Your passport may be revoked or denied;[2545]
    Unpaid child support will be reported to credit bureaus, which can hurt your credit rating and make it harder to get a loan, rent an apartment, or find a job;[2546] AND/OR
    The amount of interest that you owe will continue to increase.[2547]
    If you are unemployed and do not pay your child support obligations, the judge may order you to get a job (or at least to try). For example, the judge may order you to apply for a certain number of jobs every week until you get hired, and may require you to bring in proof of every job application you do.[2548]
    Finally, if the judge finds that you are able to make child support payments and are willfully failing to pay, the judge can find you “in contempt of court” and have you arrested or put in jail.[2549] However, the judge usually only does this as a last resort, if all other enforcement efforts have failed.
  1. 2541

    Cal. Fam. Code § 5230

  2. 2542

    Cal. Rev. & T. Code § 19271(d)(2) (state income tax refund); 42 U.S.C. § 664 and 26 U.S.C. § 6402(c) (federal income tax refund); Cal. Fam. Code §§ 17510 (workers’ compensation), 17518 (unemployment benefits), 17528 (retirement)

  3. 2543

    Cal. Fam. Code § 17523

  4. 2544

    Cal. Fam. Code § 17520

  5. 2545

    42 U.S.C. § 652(k)

  6. 2546

    Department of Child Supportive Services, Information for the noncustodial Parent, http://www.childsup.ca.gov/portals/0/resources/docs/pub247_english.pdf

  7. 2547

    Cal. Rev. & T. Code § 19271(c); Cal. C.C.P. § 685.010.

  8. 2548

    Telephone call with Eleanor Miller, reentry attorney, Pepperdine Legal Aid Clinic, Jan. 6, 2015.

  9. 2549

    California Courts, Falling Behind in Child Support Payments, http://www.courts.ca.gov/selfhelp-support.htm

How do I find out whether I owe child support and how much I owe?

If you were ordered to pay child support, you should have received papers from the LCSA or the other parent.[2550] If you can’t remember whether you received papers (or you don’t have them anymore), you should contact the LCSA to find out how much you owe.[2551] To find the LCSA in your county, call 1-866-901-3212 or visit http://www.childsup.ca.gov/home/lcsaoffices.aspx. You can also contact the family court clerk to get a copy of your child support order and other court papers.

If you disagree with the amount of overdue child support you (or the other parent) owe, you can ask the LCSA for a review of your account, and/or you can ask the judge to determine how much money you owe (called a Judicial Determination of Arrears).[2552] If the overdue child support payments are from the period of time you were incarcerated, there is a special form to ask the judge how much you owe (Form FL-676: Request For Judicial Determination of Support Arrearages or Adjustment of Arrearages Due to Incarceration or Involuntary Institutionalization.)[2553]

IMPORTANT: If you never received any papers or child support order, but the LCSA now says that you owe child support, you may be able to have the judge cancel the child support order. But you must act as soon as you find out that there is an order for you to pay child support. If you do not act immediately, the judge may refuse to cancel the order.

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  1. 2550

    Judicial Council of Cal., Child Support FAQs ( Nov. 12, 2014), http://www.courts.ca.gov/1200.htm.

  2. 2551

    Cal. Fam. Code § 17526(a) requires the LCSA to provide you with information about how much child support you owe. You can also ask the judge to determine exactly how much child support and interest you owe. § 17526(c).

  3. 2552

    Cal. Fam. Code § 17526.

  4. 2553

    Form FL-676 is also available online at http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/fl676.pdf. For more information, read the accompanying information sheet, FL-676-INFO, http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/fl676info.pdf.