Some parents may consider waiving child support from a former spouse due to several reasons, including wanting to come to settlement quickly and avoiding a costly and complicated divorce process. Yet there is some parents that feel if they request child support, the other spouse will take advantage of the whole situation and try to reduce alimony or ask the court to get more time with the children.
When there are problems with support of a minor child, the courts may intervene. Waiving child support is not what’s best for the children. Children need both parents’ emotional and financial support. It’s not so much the money but the feeling that someone cares. When a parent waives child support, the child’s best interests are also waived. In other words, children have legal rights to support, which nobody should take away from them. Those protections include past due support. A parent that has not fulfilled child support obligations can’t waive or reduce the amount of child support he or she owns.
There are times when parents agree to less child support than the one required by California laws. The court makes this calculation. They also determine the minimum amount of child support unless the parents would like to request a higher amount. The court needs to know how the parent receiving the support will provide for the children. Also, both parents have to agree to a lower amount of child support. If they were requesting a larger amount of child support, the request would have to be submitted to the court as well.
You or your former spouse may qualify to change a child support order as long as there ahs been a change of circumstances. But you must notify your former spouse and you both must agree to it. Some qualifying reasons to seek a modification include:
If you wait too long to request a child support modification, you might regret it. Remember the old order will remain in effect unless you do something about it. Verbal agreements or your opinion is not useful. This is why it is important you hire a family law attorney with experience in these specific types of cases to make the whole process much soother. The advice of a legal advocate is critical if you want to have a better outcome.
If you have any questions related to child support or any other family law matter, call a child support attorney in Thousand Oaks. Even if you are financially stable, you can save for your child’s college education.
