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Navigating Complex Child Support Issues:
A Three-Part Advanced Series
Enrolling now!
Program Overview
Some child support issues don’t come up every day – but when they do, even seasoned family law practitioners can find them tough to work through. This three-part advanced series digs into those harder questions – where the guideline amount is difficult to calculate or swings widely depending on the income inputs, where the underlying facts are hard to develop and present, and where the “right” answer is genuinely contestable.
This 6-hour series is divided into three two-hour sessions, each focusing on a different set of issues, but ones that relate to and build on one another, with the goal of helping attorneys recognize these issues when they arise and frame the claims and contentions that follow.
The program is conversational and practice-focused, not a traditional slide presentation. Through hypotheticals, open discussion, and interactive problem-solving, the faculty raise the hard questions, work through them, and weigh the approaches for handling each one.
Register for the full series at a discounted rate or enroll in individual sessions for a focused look at these specific issues – from untangling cash-flow issues, to seeking or opposing guideline deviations, to addressing adult support claims.
Presenters
• Hon. Anne Kiley – Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court, Family Law Division
• Christopher C. Melcher, CFLS-CALS – Walzer Melcher & Yoda LLP
Program Highlights
Part One – Income and Cash-Flow Challenges in Calculating Guideline Child Support
Sometimes determining income is straightforward – the paycheck shows what a parent earns. But even a W-2 earner can present real complications, and this session takes up the cases where the income figure is anything but obvious. The discussion focuses on how to identify and analyze income that may not be apparent from traditional financial records – and how to present these issues persuasively to the court.
• Non-wage income
• Imputed income
• Phantom income
• Cash-flow issues involving self-employed parents
• Pass-through income
• Capital outlays
• Business versus personal expenses
Part Two – Deviating from the Guideline: When, Why, and How
When is a deviation warranted? This session examines both the legal standards and the practical considerations involved in seeking or opposing a deviation from guideline child support. Through hypotheticals, we work through how to develop the theory behind a proposed deviation and persuade the court to adopt – or reject – the requested result.
• Statutory grounds and standards for deviation
• Allocating financial responsibility for extraordinary expenses
• High-income deviations
• Burdens of proof
• Admissible evidence
• Building and presenting a persuasive request for deviation |
Part Three – Adult Support
This session explores adult support under California Family Code §§ 3910, 4400, and 4401 – discussing both a parent’s duty to support an adult child incapacitated from earning a living and without sufficient means, and an adult child’s duty to support a parent who is in need and unable to self-maintain by work.
This is an area with limited case law, where guidance is thin, many questions remain unresolved, and there is significant potential for more of these cases to be brought. This session explores those open questions, reviews the key cases, and examines strategies for bringing and defending these proceedings.
• The procedural issues, including how the adult support request is made
• Jurisdictional issues
• What the main cases say
• Whether and when guideline support principles apply
• Issues with calculating guideline support
• Avoiding unintended consequences in drafting orders |
Course Materials
The course materials include a copy of the complete set of slides and worksheets used by the panelists, plus other supplemental materials.
Course materials will be available to download and view online when the program premieres.
6 Hours MCLE/Specialization Credits
Approval of specialization credit in Family Law has been granted by the California Board of Legal Specialization, and approval of MCLE credit for this activity has been granted by The State Bar of California in the amount of 6 hours for the full program, including 2 hours for each session.
Visit www.CFLRonline.com™ and www.RutterOnline.com™ to earn additional MCLE participatory credit!
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