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Land Legal Group is dedicated to providing high-quality legal services throughout Los Angeles and surrounding areas, including Little Tokyo, Old Chinatown, Naud Junction, New Chinatown, Aliso Village, Mission Junction, Taylor Junction, Angelino Heights, Pico Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, Glendale Junction, Butte Street Junction, Dayton Avenue, Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, Wyvernwood, and Saint James Park. With a deep understanding of the unique cultural dynamics and legal needs of each neighborhood, we are committed to providing compassionate and effective legal representation to our clients.
At the Land Legal Group, our Los Angeles divorce attorneys believe that, despite how it may feel during the initial proceedings, it is not the end of the world when parents dissolve their marriages.
In fact, there is no limit to the number of California parents who go on to live full and healthy lives, eventually remarrying and starting anew, which can often lead to both the custodial and non-custodial parent wondering how this decision might affect an existing child support order.
Here are a few things our California residents should know about child support payments once they remarry.
Both Parents are Responsible for the Financial Needs of Their Children
No matter your marital status, both parents have the responsibility to meet the financial needs of their kids in California.
That means whether one of both spouses remarry, they both have the duty to support their children physically, emotionally, and financially.
While the new spouse is not legally bound to financially support their spouse’s children from another marriage, former spouses often contest the amount of child support they must pay because their ex-spouse may have access to more resources because of their new nuptials.
When this occurs, the child support paying spouse must take the other parent back to court to pursue a modification of the child support case before the amount can be lowered.
How Can One Parent Get Child Support Payments Modified After the Other Remarries?
In California, one parent’s new marriage is not one of the specific reasons courts will consider child support order modifications.
The specific reasons child support can be modified in California include:
- A notable change in a parent’s income, including a job loss or promotion
- Increased costs of living, education, or healthcare
- A change in custody that significantly impacts the time a child spends with each parent
- A parent’s arrest and jail time
In some cases, when parents remarry, the new spouse may decide to adopt a child from their spouse’s previous marriage, which requires the second parent to give up their parental rights.
When this happens, financial support then legally shifts to the child’s legal parents, instead of the biological parent.
Contact Our Los Angeles Child Support Attorneys at the Land Legal Group Today
If you are seeking child support modification after your spouse remarried, contact our skilled family law attorneys in Los Angeles at the Land Legal Group today at 310-552-3500 to schedule a consultation to discuss your unique needs to learn how we can help.
