Department of Child Support Services
Local child support agencies touch the lives of over 2 million children and their families each year. Our DCSS agency works to establish, collect and distribute child support. They support the fact that both parents have a legal duty to provide financial support for their children. The court may order either or both parents to make regular payments to cover a child's living and medical expenses. This payment is called child support.
California's child support services program works with parents - custodial and non -custodial as well as guardians to ensure children receive court-ordered financial and medical support. There are 52 county and regional child support agencies.
California child support services are governed by various sections of the California Family Code including sections 17000 and thereafter. State regulations that operate the child support program can be found in Title 22, California Code of Regulations section 1100000 and thereafter, available on the Internet at www.calregs.com.
Every family court has a family law facilitator to provide child support information and help parents obtain and complete court forms. Services are free and unconnected with DCSS. Internet information can be located at www.courtinfo.ca.gov/selfhelp/lowcost/flf.htm.
In California, child support is determined using the guidelines established in state law (California Family Code sections 4050). Child support guidelines are based on various factors including monthly net income of both parents and the amount of time the child spends with each parent.
When parents have joint physical custody, shared custody, or split custody of a child, the determination of child support is complicated. For more information, contact the Law offices of Richard K. Isles, a 20 year local attorney.
The court process begins when the Local Child Support Agency files a Summons and Complaint with the court to get a child support order. The Summons and Complaint and a blank answer form are delivered to the parent being asked to pay child support. This must be done within 90 days of locating the parent.
The person being served is the Respondent and must respond within 30 days. It is critical that the Respondent file a response within the time limit in order to have their income information considered by the court. Our staff can prepare the Responsive documents on your behalf and represent your interests in the DCSS court.
If the Respondent does not provide a response, the court will set child support with the information it has. If the court has not information regarding income, under California code section 5002 and 17400, the court must set the amount of child support using presumed income. The presumed income amount is based on the minimum wage at 40 hours per week.
The Court Commissioner or Family Law Judge has the final authority for deciding the amount of child support to be paid and who will be responsible for making those payments. The DCSS department may ask the court to issue a new support order or modify an existing order to either increase or decrease child support.
The support order may be part of an interim, temporary, permanent or modified order in a divorce, paternity action, child custody action, or separate support action. The court generally orders the non-custodial parent to provide support for the child who is living with the other parent. The court sets the amount of child support as well as medical support.
If you are the non-custodial parent and a child support case has been opened, call our office.If you are the custodial parent and need to enforce child support, we offer a free initial consultation and provide a wealth of knowledge to our clients. Call the lawyer people want in their court! Richard K. Isles (951) 352-8700
