TREATMENT OF GIFTS IN CHILD SUPPORT CALCULATIONS

DONALD F. CONVISER, a Certified Family Law Specialist, owner of Warner Center Law Offices in Woodland Hills in the San Fernando Valley, an effective and aggressive Family Law and Divorce attorney serving clients in the courts of Los Angeles and Ventura County for over 35 years, offering a free confidential consultation regarding your divorce or family law issues, 818/880-8990, brings you another informative blog, addressing the treatment of gifts in Child Support calculations, in a series of blogs designed to inform and educate readers about various areas of Family Law and Divorce.

In Marriage of ALTER (2009) 171 Cal.App.4th 718, 736-737, the Appellate Court held that where a party receives recurring gifts of money, the Trial Court has discretion to consider that money as income for purposes of the Statewide Uniform Child Support Guideline.

In Marriage of SCHLAFLY (2007) 149 Cal.App.4th 747, 754-755, the Appellate Court approved the approach previously used in Marriage of LOH (2001) 93 Cal.App.4th, 325, 333-336, and allowed deviation from the Statewide Uniform Child Support Guidelines where regular non-cash gifts (such as free housing) are provided to a party. The LOH court concluded that if a Trial Court determines that a parent's housing situation (or other lifestyle factors) renders application of the Guideline amount inappropriate or unjust, such a fact may be considered by the Court in a deviation from the Guideline.

The authorities addressed above demonstrate how the Court handles cash gifts to a parent and non-cash gifts to a parent in different ways, cash as income (if regularly recurring), and free rent or other non-cash gifts as justification to deviate from the Guideline Child Support figures.

If your former spouse or the other parent of your child receives regular gifts of cash, housing, or payment of expenses from his/her parents or relatives, those gifts should be brought to the Court's attention by appropriate legal means, so that the Court may consider that evidence in either its Guideline Child Support calculations, or as justification to deviate from Guideline figures.

Posted by DONALD F. CONVISER, CFLS, owner of Warner Center Law Office, representing people in divorce and family law cases before the Superior Courts in Los Angeles, Ventura, Van Nuys, San Fernando, Simi Valley, Santa Monica, Torrance, Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, and Pomona (among others) involving Child Support, Child Custody, Visitation, Premarital Agreements (aka Prenuptial Agreements), Divorces, Paternity, Stepparent Adoptions, Nonmarital Dissolutions, and all other areas of family law and divorce law practice. If you have any question or concern regarding Child Support, call DONALD F. CONVISER at 818/880-8990 for a free, confidential consultation.