The issue of child support almost always arises in divorce cases. It’s the money the court orders one/both parents to pay to support their child/children. In California, family courts usually want both parents to support their children after the divorce. Therefore, courts will consider your and your spouse’s financial situation to establish how much child support you both owe. They will also consider who spends much time with the child between you and your spouse. If you spend more time with your child than your spouse, you’d owe less in terms of child support. The court will also consider the child’s age—support usually ends at eighteen or nineteen years if the minor hasn’t finished their high school studies yet.
Should a child die, marry, or join the military, child support ends. However, if the minor is physically or mentally disabled and can’t support themselves as a grow-up, child support continues past eighteen years. The expenses and income of you and your spouse are filled on form FL-150, and the child support each spouse owes is determined depending on a preset formula that’s itself based mainly on disposable income.
