Giada de Laurentis is arguably best known for her recipes and cooking shows. So when news of the ruling regarding her divorce became public, it was newsworthy not only because of the property settlement and spousal maintenance ruling, but also because of the child support ruling as well.
Essentially, de Laurentis will pay her ex-husband more than $9,000 per month in child support. Indeed it is unusual for mothers to be order to pay child support, but it can occur. This post will highlight the legal basics of child support and help our readers understand what they may expect in the event of a divorce
As a matter of law, children deserve to be supported financially (and emotionally) by their biological parents until they reach the age of majority. Because of this, when parents split up and live in separate households, the obligation to support a child does not go away. In fact, the non-custodial parent has an obligation to help the custodial parent in defraying the costs of raising a child.
In California, the amount of support is determined by reviewing both parents’ incomes (and the percentage of the total parental income each parent brings) as well as the amount of parenting time ordered, among other things, to reach an amount for child support. Using this formula, the parent with the higher income commonly ends up paying child support to the parent with the lower income. With that, there are situations where a mother will have the higher income and will be ordered to pay support.
If you have questions about whether you will be ordered to pay child support as a result of your divorce, an experienced family law attorney can help.