Paying For Child Support And Alimony In San Bernardino
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In California, child support is typically the responsibility of the biological or legal parents of the child. This means that you generally cannot pursue child support from your ex-husband's new wife, as she is not the child's biological or legal parent.
You cannot legally avoid paying child support for a minor child. The purpose of child support is to provide for a child's basic needs. It ensures that both parents contribute a fair share to the child's financial support, even after separating or divorcing.
Child support is intended to ensure that the child's basic needs are being met in both parents' households. The responsibility of making sure the child's basic needs are being met falls on the parents of the child. Under California law, a new spouse's income is not used in the calculation for child support.
That's because California law prohibits judges from considering the income earned by either parent's new spouse or nonmarital partner when they first determine the amount of support or when they're modifying an existing support order. (Cal. Fam. Code § 4057.5 (2024).)
Child support is never deductible and isn't considered income. Additionally, if a divorce or separation instrument provides for alimony and child support, and the payer spouse pays less than the total required, the payments apply to child support first. Only the remaining amount is considered alimony.
Misconduct: Certain behaviors can also lead to the disqualification of alimony. For instance, if a spouse is found to have engaged in financial misconduct, such as hiding assets or failing to disclose financial information during the divorce proceedings, this can result in disqualification.
Child support payments are not taxable to the recipient (and not deductible by the payer). When you calculate your gross income to see whether you're required to file a tax return, don't include child support payments received.
