California Senate Bill SB274 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 274INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Leno (Coauthor: Senator Beall) FEBRUARY 14, 2013 An act to amend Section 4057 of the Family Code, relating to child support. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 274, as introduced, Leno. Child support: statewide uniform guideline. Under existing law, the parents of a minor child are responsible for supporting the child. Existing law establishes the statewide uniform guideline for calculating court-ordered child support, which is rebuttably presumed to be the correct amount of child support. Existing law provides that the presumption may be rebutted by admissible evidence showing that application of the formula would be unjust or inappropriate because of one or more factors found to be applicable and the court provides certain information in writing, as specified. This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to this provision. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 4057 of the Family Code is amended to read: 4057. (a) The amount of child support established by the formula provided in subdivision (a) of Section 4055 is presumed to be the correct amount of child support to be ordered. (b) The presumption of subdivision (a) is a rebuttable presumption affecting the burden of proof and may be rebutted by admissible evidence showing that application of the formula would be unjust or inappropriate in the particular case, consistent with the principles set forth in Section 4053, because one or more of the following factors is found to be applicable by a preponderance of the evidence, and the court states in writing or on the record the information required in subdivision (a) of Section 4056: (1) The parties have stipulated to a different amount of child support under subdivision (a) of Section 4065. (2) The sale of the family residence is deferred pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 3800) of Part 1 and the rental value of the family residence  in which   where  the children reside exceeds the mortgage payments, homeowner's insurance, and property taxes. The amount of any adjustment pursuant to this paragraph shall not be greater than the excess amount. (3) The parent being ordered to pay child support has an extraordinarily high income and the amount determined under the formula would exceed the needs of the children. (4) A party is not contributing to the needs of the children at a level commensurate with that party's custodial time. (5) Application of the formula would be unjust or inappropriate due to special circumstances in the particular case. These special circumstances include, but are not limited to, the following: (A) Cases in which the parents have different time-sharing arrangements for different children. (B) Cases in which both parents have substantially equal time-sharing of the children and one parent has a much lower or higher percentage of income used for housing than the other parent. (C) Cases in which the children have special medical or other needs that could require child support that would be greater than the formula amount.