Important Note:The following guidelines are a simplified version of how the court calculates support. However, different circumstances in each case tailor the amounts of child support ordered by the court. For specific information about the child support guidelines and formula, see the Statewide Uniform Guidelines for Determining Child Support listed in the California Family Code Sections 4050-4076.

Both parents are financially responsible for supporting their child(ren). The custodial parent directly supports the child(ren) by providing housing, groceries, paying for school, clothing, health care, day care, school activities and other expenses. The noncustodial parent pays child support to help cover these costs.

The amount of child support to be paid by each parent is based on the amount of time each parent spends with the child and their net income. Welfare grants are not considered income for the purposes of calculating child support. Income is money from sources including: self-employment, job wages, savings accounts, unemployment money, disability and worker's compensation, and Social Security. The judge may consider the amount of money the parent could be making, instead of the parent's actual income.

Net income is calculated by taking a person's total income and subtracting certain expenses, such as federal and state income taxes, health insurance premiums, state disability insurance, and Social Security taxes. The judge may also consider other expenses, including the cost of raising a child from another relationship, exceptional health care expenses, uninsured catastrophic losses, mandatory union dues, or retirement contributions.

Once each parent's net income is calculated, the child support guideline is used to determine the percentage of net income to be paid as child support.

The example below is a general guideline for calculating child support. The final amount of child support is carefully determined by a judge based on individual case information.

For example, the custodial parent and noncustodial parent have 1 child. The noncustodial parent's net income is $2,000 per month resulting in a child support share of $500 per month. (25% of 2,000). If the custodial parent's net income is $1,500 per month, the child support share is $375 per month (25% of 1,500). These percentages are adjusted according to the amount of time each parent spends with the child.

Child support covers only ordinary living expenses for a child. It does not include childcare, medical bills not paid by insurance, travel expenses for visitation with noncustodial parent or a child's special education needs. Parents must specifically ask the judge to include these additional expenses in the child support order. If they do not, the costs may be divided so each parent pays 50 percent.

The law requires the judge to order one or both parents to provide health insurance coverage for their child(ren), including vision and dental care coverage, if it is available through a job or group insurance plan at no or reasonable cost to the parent.