Pacific Palisades Child Support Attorney

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If you’re facing a divorce involving children in Pacific Palisades, or a legal matter regarding child support for a non-married parent, the Pacific Palisades child support attorneys at Fernandez & Karney are ready to help with a resolution-based approach while protecting your legal rights and option.

Family law matters are challenging and often fraught with emotion, and none more so than matters of child custody and child support. All parents want the best for their children, and family courts in California place the best interests of children as their top priority.

How Can a Pacific Palisades Attorney Help My Case?

Both parents have an obligation to provide support for their children. California court proceedings ensure that each parent supports their children in a manner that’s appropriate to their unique financial circumstances and stations in life.

No one should face the court on matters of child support without skilled, experienced legal representation. Whether you’re facing a determination of child support as part of a divorce or as a separate legal proceeding, you wish to file a request for modification, or you have questions about arrearage and enforcement, the Pacific Palisades child support attorneys at Fernandez & Karney are a full-service family law firm.

We’re ready to help with legal matters through the following counsel:

  • Defining your legal rights and obligations as a child support payor or receiver under California family law
  • Negotiating a child support agreement during divorce or for non-married parents
  • Aggressively litigating your position in court
  • Examining the potential for deviations or add-ons from the state’s child support calculation model
  • Assessing existing child support orders
  • Aiding in child support enforcement issues for payors and receivers
  • Representing your interests in the child support modification process

When Should I Contact a Child Support Attorney in Pacific Palisades?

At the Pacific Palisades law firm of Fernandez & Karney, we deftly navigate the special legal issues involved in determining child support, establishing paternity, or modifying existing child support orders. Our skilled family law attorneys in the Pacific Palisades put their over five decades of combined legal experience behind the advice, legal counsel, and representation we give our clients at all child support-related proceedings.

If you’re facing a child support dispute in Pacific Palisades or the surrounding area, you need a family law attorney with years of experience navigating California’s child support payment guidelines, estimated payment amounts, and allowable deductions so you receive a fair judgment.

How Are Child Support Payments Calculated?

Many spouses facing divorce use the state’s calculator for estimating child support orders, which uses a mathematical formula based on both parents’ gross incomes and the amount of parenting time in their custody schedule. Still, family Court Judges in California have the final judgment when deciding child support amounts. Typically their orders fall within the state’s guidelines unless specific reasons for deviation apply in the case and the judge carefully documents their reason for the deviation.

Sometimes a family’s unique circumstances make calculating child support under California’s guidelines complex, particularly when deviations might apply such as those for the following legal standards:

  • When the presumed correct amount under the state’s calculations is “unjust” or “inappropriate”
  • If both parents agree to an amount that’s different from the calculated number
  • When a wide disparity between both parents’ incomes exists in a way that impacts one parent’s ability to care for the children during their custodial time
  • When a child has special medical needs
  • If the paying parent has an extraordinarily high income that results in the formula specifying an amount that’s much higher than the children need

Child support significantly impacts both paying and receiving parents, as well as the children they share. At Fernandez & Karney, we are the Pacific Palisades child support lawyers who can determine and define how the state’s child support formula applies to you and your family. Matters unique to each family may require careful legal analysis, such as self-employment, underemployment/unemployment, high income, unearned income, and other circumstances. Our attorneys offer honest, diligent legal representation for parents facing child-support-related determinations and legal proceedings.