After separating or getting divorced, parents may struggle with providing their children with the necessities they need to raise them. This often occurs when parents go from having two incomes to one after splitting up. Due to this, California laws require that both parents provide their children financial support, regardless of who the child lives with. But how do families know how much support is needed to ensure their child is financially secure? Keep reading to find out.

What Determines the Amount of Child Support Needed?

According to California law, child support is founded on the principle that it is both parents have a primary obligation to support and foster their child’s well-being through support, and all child support orders are put in place to ensure that children always get adequate and timely support they need.

Every child custody case will require one parent to be considered the primary caregiver. This person is who the child predominantly lives with and is the person that is responsible for the day-to-day care of the child and their needs. For a primary caregiver to do this, there will be many expenses to properly care for the child.

Often the expenses associated with raising a child are too much for one parent to take on their own. Therefore, the non-custodial parent will be required to make payments to the custodial parent. In order to determine how much support will be required to do this successfully, California family courts use a standard formula to base the amount on.

The formula uses several factors to determine an appropriate amount of child support, including:

• How much money does each parent make?
• Is there other income each parent is receiving in addition to their normal income?
• How many children need support?
• Cost of health insurance.
• Cost of daycare and other children watching services needed.
• Any other expenses like education, transportation, tutoring, after school activities, or any other programs the child may be a part of.

To get a more thorough idea of how much you can expect to pay or receive in child support, California has a calculator where parents can input their information to get a rough estimate. However, this may not be completely accurate.

It is in your best interests to seek out a Pasadena child support attorney to discuss your unique case. At Law Offices of Christopher L. Hoglin, P.C., our team of skilled family lawyers will not only be able to thoroughly examine your situation to provide a more accurate estimate of child support but can also provide you with a sound plan on how to best move forward with your child support case.

Have questions about child support in California? Call us today at (626) 653-4075 to speak to our skilled Pasadena child support attorneys.