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Child
Support
When discussing child support, we must look
at the "guidelines" that the legislature has established. These
are:
(1) "A parent's first and principal
obligation is to support his or her minor children according to
the parent's circumstances and station in life."
(2) "Both parents are mutually responsible
for the support of their children."
(3) "The guideline takes into account each
parent's actual income and level of responsibility for the
children."
(4) "Each parent should pay for the
support of the children according to his or her ability."
(5) "The guideline seeks to place the
interests of the children as the state's top priority."
(6) "Children should share in the standard
of living of both parents. Child support may therefore
appropriately improve the standard of living of the custodial
household to improve the lives of the children."
(7) "Child support orders in cases in
which both parents have high levels of responsibility for the
children should reflect the increased costs of raising the
children in two homes and should minimize significant
disparities in the children's living standards in the two
homes."
(8) "The financial needs of the children
should be met through private financial resources as much as
possible."
(9) "It is presumed that a parent having
primary physical responsibility for the children contributes a
significant portion of available resources for the support of
the children."
(10) "The guideline seeks to encourage fair
and efficient settlements of conflicts between parents and seeks
to minimize the need for litigation."
(11) "The guideline is intended to be
presumptively correct in all cases, and only under special
circumstances should child support orders fall below the child
support mandated by the guideline formula."
(12) "Child support orders must ensure
that children actually receive fair, timely, and sufficient
support reflecting the state's high standard of living and high
costs of raising children compared to other states."
The formula used
by Orange County judges is the same computer program used to
calculate temporary spousal support. Therefore, much of child
support is based on the income of the parties.
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