Child support is often the most hotly contested issue in a family law case. The amount and duration of a child support order depends on a variety of factors, and is subject to modification (and litigation) until the children reach the age of majority. Having an attorney on your side can not only help make sure your children are taken care of – but also that you pocketbook is not taken advantage of. Contact attorney Grace Ayers today to discuss your rights with respect to child support and other family-law related issues.

Factors in Determining Child Support

In California, the amount of child support is typically calculated by a computer program known as the “Dissomaster,” which calculates the “Guideline” amount of child support. The program takes into account many factors about you, your co-parent, and your child or children. Factors to take into consideration include:

• Monthly Income (yours compared co-parent’s)
• Certain Monthly Expenses (such as mortgage, property taxes, and required union dues)
• Childcare and Education Expenses
• Insurance and Other Healthcare Costs
• Percentage of Time Spent With Each Parent
• Number and Age of Children

A child support order will typically last until the child reaches the age of majority (18-years-old) regardless of whether the receiving spouse remarries or not.

You and your child’s co-parent can also agree to an amount and duration outside what the “guideline” provides in a written Settlement Agreement. To avoid the stress and hassle of letting the judge decide the terms, hire attorney Grace Ayers to handle things for you and facilitate a swift, workable and fair resolution.

Enforcement of Child Support Orders

When a parent who is the subject of a child support order willfully fails to pay the ordered amount, he or she can be held in contempt of court and in some cases, may be subject to jail time. If you are on the receiving end of a child support order and your co-parent has not fulfilled his or her obligations, you have a right to garnish that person’s wages and take them into court for damages you have suffered as a result of unpaid support. Contact attorney Grace Ayers today to discuss your rights and the best way to go about collecting your back-due support. Meanwhile, be sure to keep an accurate written record of payments made by the co-parent, along with missed payments and partial payments, to facilitate collecting the past due support.

Modification of Child Support Orders

If you are the paying party to a Child Support Order and you are unable to make the required payments, your best move is to get into court for a modification right away. In order get a modification, you will need to make a significant showing of “changed circumstances,” the legal standard considered by the judge. Having a skilled attorney on your side increases your likelihood of success exponentially in modification hearings because we know what it takes to convince a judge. We speak the same language and quite frankly, judges would much rather hear a succinct legal argument from counsel than a sob story from a non-attorney. Let attorney Grace Ayers be the advocate you need to get your child support order modified and protect your rights in court.

Child custody or visitation is one of the most challenging parts of any family law action and is often the biggest source of emotional turmoil for litigants. Unfortunately, that emotional pull can sometimes lead parties to act out of spite or revenge, rather than in the children’s best interest. Attorney Grace Ayers will help you deal with an angry ex-spouse and guide you towards a more peaceful place by handling these difficult aspects of a relationship for you. Having an advocate on your side is guaranteed to put your mind at ease when dealing with child custody. Contact attorney Grace Ayers to discuss your child custody concerns today.

Child Custody

There are two types of custody: physical custody and legal custody. Physical custody refers to whom the children live with. Parents can have joint physical custody, or one parent may have sole or primary physical custody of the children spend the majority of their time with that parent.

Legal custody refers to the parents’ rights and responsibilities to make important decisions for the children, including the following areas:

• Residence (where the children will live)
• School or childcare
• Religious activities or institutions
• Psychiatric, psychological, or other mental health counseling or therapy needs Doctor, dentist, orthodontist, or other health professional (except in emergency situations)
• Sports, summer camp, vacation, or extracurricular activities
• Travel

A parent with physical custody will typically have legal custody of the child, at least for the period of custody, but ultimate decision-making rights can be vested in both parents equally or one parent alone.

Joint Custody vs. Sole Custody

Not surprisingly, Joint Physical Custody allows each party to have “physical custody” of the children for exactly half the time. Joint Legal Custody gives each parent equal decision-making rights and responsibilities with respect to the children. Parents do not have to agree on every decision and each has the right to make a decision on their own. This creates a potential for future litigation unless parents are able to effectively communicate and cooperate on these important decisions. The key to avoiding a trip to court in the future is having a detailed agreement with your co-parent so that there are already mechanisms in play for potential disagreements or bumps in the road.

Sole Legal Custody gives one parent the unilateral right to make decisions regarding the above aspects of raising the child, and essentially eliminates the other parent from the equation. A parent may also have Sole or Primary Physical Custody of the children, meaning the children spend the majority of their time at the residence of the custodial parent.

The Right Visitation Plan

Visitation (or “time-share”) is the plan for how parents will allocate time with the children. A parent who has the children less than half of the time has visitation with the children. Visitation schedules can vary widely, from spending months at a time with each parent, to a weekly schedule of back-and-forth. Either way, the key to an effective custody and visitation agreement is specificity. Holidays, birthdays, vacations and other special occasions should be accounted for, along with the minute details such as transportation arrangements, pick-up and drop-off locations, and back-up plans are all examples of details that should be included in a custody agreement.

The problem for unrepresented parents is that coming up with such a detailed agreement requires a meeting of the minds that in many cases, is no longer possible. Enter skilled family law attorney Grace Ayers: let me be the one to deal with your ex (or his or her lawyer), removing the emotional component from negotiations, in favor of legally required details.

As of November 1, 2012, 75% of all marriages in California end in divorce. That means that 3 out of 4 marriages are destined to fail, and a messy divorce may be in cards for many Californians. But don’t let the statistics scare you – it is still possible to handle the end of your marriage in a civil and dignified way, and to preserve the peace for the sake of the children in many cases. If you are considering separation or divorce, contact attorney Grace Ayers today for your free 30-minute consultation and a guide to steps you should take in the early stages of separation.

Community Property

All property acquired during the marriage (or “marital economic community”), with a few exceptions, becomes part of what is known as the “Community.” Each spouse owns half of the Community. In other words, when you get a divorce, you and your spouse are both entitled to one-half of everything acquired during the marriage. Technically the court can order that any and all property be sold and the money divided equally between the parties. This is known as “in-kind division,” and is the judicially preferred mechanism for division of property. Modernly, however, there are many instances when it is not in the parties’ best interest to physically divide all property and assets, and instead, the parties are encouraged to come to an agreement as to who gets what. Common examples of community property include the family home, automobiles, furniture, and other assets.

Family Business

Another common issue among couples seeking divorce is division of the family or spouse-owned business, which has oftentimes served to support the community throughout the marriage. As is the case with Community Property, each spouse is technically entitled to one-half of any business asset that was acquired or created during the marriage and/or with the funds from the community. But in reality, actual division of a business is less than practical, and more than likely, one spouse will end up as the owner of the business when all is said and done. However, in cases where both spouses worked at the business, this can create a tricky situation that the courts are weary of deciding and again, having a skilled advocate on your side provides the protection you need to make sure any deal reached is fair. Contact Attorney Grace Ayers to discuss your rights to a family business today.

Spousal Support

To determine the amount of spousal support, a judge must consider the potential earning power of each spouse or partner, as required to maintain a standard of living close to what they each had during the marriage or partnership. Factors considered by the court include: • Marketable skills of the spouse or partner getting support; • Job market for those skills; • Time and expense the spouse or partner who gets support will need to get the education or training to develop more marketable skills or to get a job; • Extent that the earning capacity (the ability to earn income) of the spouse or partner who gets support was impaired by periods of unemployment during the marriage/partnership when he or she was devoted to domestic duties.

The duration of the marriage or partnership is also a relevant consideration and is closely related to the duration of a spousal support order. For more about your rights regarding spousal support, contact family law attorney Grace Ayers today.