Palo Alto Family Support Lawyers
Child Support ○ Spousal Support ○ Modifications ○ Enforcement
Di Maria & Cone
We never lose sight of how our legal advice affects real families. 
Under California law, parents have the obligation to support their children and spouses may have an obligation to support each other after marriage by court order. Some of our clients are women; some are men. Some of our clients have greater earning power than the spouse they are divorcing. Other times, our clients have played more of a supporting role in their families during the time they were married. Consequently, on their own they will have less earning potential, at least at the beginning stages after a divorce.
Child support: Under California law, the court must make a child support order where the parties have minor children. Child support issues may arise over the course of a divorce or between parents who are not married. The parties cannot agree to terminate child support before the child reaches the age of majority. The amount of child support is generally set by a formula that is based primarily on the differences between the parties’ incomes and the amount of time each parent has with the child. In addition, each parent has the obligation to contribute towards expenses for child care and uninsured medical care and may be required to contribute towards education and other expenses as deemed appropriate by the court.
Spousal support: While a man and a woman agree to end their marriage, in some cases their financial obligation to one another continues since each spouse has the legal obligation to support the other spouse. In a divorce, there are two types of spousal support, temporary and long term. Temporary spousal support is meant to maintain the status quo until trial on support issues. The amount and duration of long term support depends on numerous factors set by statute. A court may deny long term support to a spouse who has sufficient resources from separate property, earnings, or his or her share of community property for his or her own support. The statutory factors that influence the amount and duration of long term spousal support and the case law interpreting those statutes may be complex, but it is important to address spousal support carefully and aggressively.
Attorney’s fees: One party can be required to contribute to the attorney’s fees incurred by the other party in two circumstances in family law proceedings. The first is where the award is necessary to “level the playing field” so that a rich party does not have an unfair advantage over a party with little income and assets. A party can also be ordered to pay the other party’s fees as a sanction for improper conduct, such as bad faith in settlement negotiations.
Modification of support: Support judgments or orders can be modified where there has been a substantial change in circumstances, for example loss of a job, retirement, birth of another child, or an illness or disability that limits a party’s ability to work or requires additional expense for a child. In this case, we will represent you in seeking or defending against modification of child or spousal support.
Enforcement of support: Support judgments or orders generally call for monthly payments over an extended period and some people cannot or do not keep up with the payments. In this case, we will represent you in seeking to enforce or defending against enforcement of child or spousal support.
Representing Your Best Interests
Determining what is appropriate in child and spousal support matters is seldom easy. If it’s possible, we help clients achieve favorable support and fee agreements through negotiations outside court. This saves our clients money because their case is not required to go to trial. It also leaves both parties in the divorce feeling more empowered, knowing they participated in the decision-making process. It is important to realize that this is your case and you have the ultimate control over whether to settle your case. If we have exhausted every possibility for an informal settlement, we will advocate in a professional and aggressive manner for our clients in court. Our many years of experience in family law will guide our every attempt to obtain child support, spousal support, and attorneys’ fees that work in our clients’ favor. For legal help with calculation, modification, or enforcement of spousal or child support or attorney’s fees, contact an effective Palo Alto lawyer concerning support and attorney’s fee issues at the law firm of Di Maria & Cone in Palo Alto, California. We make sure your best interests, and those of your children, are represented in family support matters.
Contact us and let us see how we can help you. Initial phone consultation is free. We accept Visa and MasterCard. We look forward to meeting you!
The law office of Di Maria & Cone, in Palo Alto, represents clients throughout California, primarily in the San Francisco Peninsula and South Bay Area communities such as Atherton, Cupertino, Los Altos, Menlo Park, Mountain View, Palo Alto Redwood City, San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Woodside.
Santa Clara County ○ San Mateo County
Di Maria & Cone
2600 El Camino Real, Suite 304
Palo Alto, CA 94306
Phone: (650) 321-4460
Fax: (650) 321-0632