QUESTION
Should I pay estimated child support prior to court order?
Asked on Apr 03rd, 2015 on Child Support - California
More details to this question:
I was in mediation and had made a proposal to pay estimated child support calculated by the mediator. There was never a court order to do so. The ex has now dropped out of mediation and we go to trial in Jun to calculate custody schedule and child support. I don't want to give the wife money for no reason, if I pay estimated payments to her now prior to that will it be counted as paying support? Would it make more sense legally to just wait for the court ordered support / temporary support numbers before paying more?
1 ANSWER
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If, during mediation, you and the mom agreed to the estimated child support and the mediator sent the order to the judge for signing, then you could pay based on the amount agreed upon. However, if the mediator suggested an amount and there was no agreement or order signed by the judge, then you are not obligated to pay the support until you go to trial when you will get a court order signed by the judge.
Remember, the custody/visitation order affects the support calculation. For this reason, a court order for custody/visitation is usually made with the support order.
Answered on Apr 03rd, 2015 at 12:38 PM