Atascadero Child Support Guidelines Attorney
Guidelines are in place to provide guidance in determining the amount of child support payments. The California Superior Courts in San Luis Obispo County and Santa Barbara County are mandated to follow the California Child Support Guideline. While these guidelines are accurate in most cases, following them blindly is not a good idea. A skilled and experienced family law attorney will make certain that the right numbers are entered, the right deductions are included and the child support guidelines make sense in your case.
At the Law Offices of William Ausman, we understand that every case is unique. We approach the issue of child support with an open mind, taking the time to review the situation at hand and looking at how child support interacts with child custody arrangements. You can be confident in our ability to help you achieve a fair outcome in terms of child support.
If you have been served with an order to show cause for modification of child support or a petition to establish paternity, we can fight for your rights and get you orders that protect your income and your children's rights. Whether the Department of Child Support Services has contacted you or you have been served with a petition and summons in a dissolution of marriage case, we can assist you in getting the right findings and orders after hearing that will assist you and your family.
Careful Review of the Numbers
In theory, each parent's income and some other numbers can be entered into the child support formula, and an accurate amount of child support will be produced. The California Superior Court will usually just consider the information provided by the petitioner or respondent on their income and expense declaration. But what if the numbers are flawed? When one of the parents owns a business and there are questions of how much income is actually being generated, this becomes an extremely important question.
Did you or the other provide an accurate profit and loss statement? Have you reviewed the mandatory disclosures under San Luis Obispo Superior Court Local Rule of Court 2:8.2? This document requires 12 months of statements from all accounts, the two most recent years federal tax returns, and six months of pay stubs from your current employer as well as all 1099s, K-1s and W-2s from the past two years. We understand how to review cases to make certain that numbers are accurate.
Child Support and Child Custody
In California divorce and paternity cases, the issues that need to be resolved can be looked at independently. Often the court will order child custody evaluations either pursuant to Family Code Section 3111 or Evidence Code Section 730. Our experience in working with the Superior Court and the child custody evaluators can be put to work for you to assist you in obtaining the child custody and visitation orders that you need to protect your children.
Child support is interlinked with child custody. Both numbers must be input into a Dissomaster calculation or the California Guideline Child Support Calculator, which is based on California Child Support Guidelines and can be used to estimate the amount of child support that may be ordered in your case.
The Court Commissioner or Family Law Judge has the final authority to determine the amount of a child support order. These calculations can provide you with estimates and is not a guarantee of the amount of child support that will be ordered. Other factors may affect the amount of child support awarded which we can help you with.
For example, if both parents are contributing equal time to raising the child, the amount of child support will typically be lower. If one parent spends substantially more time with the child than the other, the noncustodial parent may be required to pay more in the form of child support.
Free Consultation With a San Luis Obispo Child Support Attorney
Call us at 805-468-4912, or send us an e-mail to schedule a free consultation with an experienced California lawyer.
