Posted in Child Custody
Effective September 1, 2024, a variety of changes have been made to the way that the state of California handles child support, in an effort to create a more equitable system for parents and better address the needs of children. For the first time in decades, the federal government has revised the formula used to calculate child support. An experienced child support lawyer El Segundo, CA is available to help guide you through these changes and provide the best assistance for your child support matter.
Low-income Adjustments More Widely Available
As a result, low-income adjustments will now be tied to the state’s minimum wage and updated on an annual basis. Before the change, adjustments were available only to parents in poverty; but under the new guidelines, a newly created “low-middle” income bracket will help to identify parents who are not on public assistance, but still earning a lower income that puts them in need of support. The threshold for the low-income adjustment is now set as the amount that the parent would earn if they were working a full 40-hour workweek at minimum wage.
Add-Ons No Longer 50/50
Additional expenses not included in basic child support include things like healthcare and childcare costs, educational expenses, extracurriculars, and expenses associated with special needs. Where necessary add-on expenses were previously split between parents at a 50/50 rate, the new changes mean that those costs will instead be distributed proportionately between both parents according to the income they earn. That means parents may have to split the cost of add-ons 90/10, or according to any other breakdown that makes sense for their distribution of income.
Expanded Sources Of Income
Another significant change in the child support laws is the broadening of what is considered income. To more precisely reflect a parent’s financial resources, now things like severance pay, non-need-based veterans’ benefits, and more are included as sources of income. This update serves to ensure that a parent’s ability to make payments is more accurately represented than it was before.
Earning Capacity Considerations
Changes to imputed income considerations further work to create an equitable and balanced outcome for parents. The new laws require evidence of a parent’s circumstance if they are unemployed or underemployed by choice for the calculation of that parent’s potential income.
More Equitable Guidelines
The changes to the California Child Support Guidelines are meant to create a more equitable way to calculate what each parent actually can afford to pay. The system aims to consider income more holistically and to take into account things like mandatory deductions, cost of living in various regions throughout the state, and age-specific financial needs for multiple children.
Changes To Enforcement Measures
In addition to guideline changes, new tools and practices have been put in place to enhance how child support payments are enforced. These include things like Electronic Income Withholding Orders (E-IWOs) which streamline paycheck deductions, a new integrated database for tracking payments, additional empowerment of law enforcement and the California Department of Child Support Services, and greater consequences for ongoing non-compliance.
How To Change Your Child Support Order
Parents are able to request a modification to their child support order at any time. With all of these significant changes now in effect, parents may have questions about how the revisions might affect them. Reach out to Skarin Law Group today!
