Paralegal Notes
12/5/2013
Week 3 Questions
QUESTIONS ON CHILD AND SPOUSAL SUPPORT
NOTE: All answers can be found in the Family Code beginning at Section 3600. When answering, please give a short answer, plus a site to the relevant statute and quote the pertinent language from the statute (i.e., not the entire statute but the language that specifically, or most closely, answers the question posed).
SUPPORT AND SUPPORT ORDERS GENERALLY
1. May the court order child support be paid during the pendency of a proceeding?
Generally the California child support is not a matter of courts discretion. You can ask for spousal or partner support to be paid while your case is going on. This is called a “temporary spousal support order” or a “temporary partner support order.” Support can also be ordered once the divorce or legal separation becomes final, as part of the final divorce or separation judgment. When it is ordered once the case becomes final, it is called “permanent (or long-term) spousal or partner support.
2. In general, how long does a child support order continue? Child support normally continues until the child is 18 (or 19 is the child is still in high school full time)
3. Is there any form of child support that the court can order without a hearing? California courts are required to order the amount of child support determined by the child support guideline unless the case fits 1 of the few legal exceptions to that rule. One of the exceptions is that the parties agree to an amount different (higher or lower) from the child support guideline, as long as it meets certain tests. Parents can also agree to a child support order based on the guideline. By agreeing and signing a written agreement (a stipulation) for the guideline amount, parents do not have to go in front of a judge to decide child support. Your agreement will need to be submitted to the court clerk for the judge to sign so that it
Week 3 Questions
QUESTIONS ON CHILD AND SPOUSAL SUPPORT
NOTE: All answers can be found in the Family Code beginning at Section 3600. When answering, please give a short answer, plus a site to the relevant statute and quote the pertinent language from the statute (i.e., not the entire statute but the language that specifically, or most closely, answers the question posed).
SUPPORT AND SUPPORT ORDERS GENERALLY
1. May the court order child support be paid during the pendency of a proceeding?
Generally the California child support is not a matter of courts discretion. You can ask for spousal or partner support to be paid while your case is going on. This is called a “temporary spousal support order” or a “temporary partner support order.” Support can also be ordered once the divorce or legal separation becomes final, as part of the final divorce or separation judgment. When it is ordered once the case becomes final, it is called “permanent (or long-term) spousal or partner support.
2. In general, how long does a child support order continue? Child support normally continues until the child is 18 (or 19 is the child is still in high school full time)
3. Is there any form of child support that the court can order without a hearing? California courts are required to order the amount of child support determined by the child support guideline unless the case fits 1 of the few legal exceptions to that rule. One of the exceptions is that the parties agree to an amount different (higher or lower) from the child support guideline, as long as it meets certain tests. Parents can also agree to a child support order based on the guideline. By agreeing and signing a written agreement (a stipulation) for the guideline amount, parents do not have to go in front of a judge to decide child support. Your agreement will need to be submitted to the court clerk for the judge to sign so that it