If you are planning to remarry after your Pasadena divorce, it's important to make sure you understand how remarriage affects your child support payment obligations.
The income of the new spouse is not typically used to make child support payment calculations. However, if the parent paying support decides to quit his/her job after getting married, the court could use imputed income based on his/her past earnings to determined an appropriate child support payment amount. This calculation is essentially placing the child support payment obligation onto the new breadwinning spouse.
If the parent paying support goes on to have additional children with his/her spouse, the obligation to support current children does not stop. However, payments can be lowered if the parent's finances don't permit keeping the same support level for all of the children.
The Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) places limits on the amount of child support that can be withheld in the state of California. Limits are as follows:
- 60% if the parent does not support a second family
- 65% if the parent does not support a second family or is more than 12 weeks past due on child support payments
- 50% if the parent supports a second family
- 55% if the parent supports a second family and is more than 12 weeks past due on child support payments
Remarriage can also affect child support payments if the amount of time spent with the parent paying support changes. Typically, having the child under your physical care for a greater amount of time will reduce the amount of child support you owe.
If you believe that your remarriage should result in a change to your child support payments, you need to speak to an attorney to file a request to have your payment amount adjusted. The state does not automatically adjust payments based on a change in parental circumstances.
How Can We Help?
If you have questions about your child support payment obligation, please call our office at (626) 683-8113 or email us at info@PasadenaLawOffice.com. Our skilled Pasadena family law attorneys are eager to help with any payment modification requests.