Q: Child support and child custody
Hi the Father of my child is threatening me that he will file for a child custody bec he is going to school from 6am to 6pm every Mon to Fri he wants to borrow the child every Sunday half day and I told him he can borrow the child some sundays but not every sunday and he got mad he told me that he is going to file for child custody and that he is sure that the judge will be on his side. He have the child every Tuesday and Wednesday but the child sleeps with me. Sometimes he borrows the child on the weekends. But On top of this he is not paying child support ever since we separated it’s been almost 5 years now. He asked me before how much he have to give and I told him it’s up to him. But after that he never gave anything. Please advise. Can I still file for child support or it is already late? Will the judge grant his side because I told him he can’t have the child every Sunday but only some sundays that he can borrow the child?
A:
It's never too late to file for child support, but the sooner you file the better because any order for child support is usually only made effective the date that you file the paperwork -- not any earlier than that. If he's not paying child support now, I would need to know whether it's because there is no order in effect or whether it's because there is an order but he is simply not in compliance.
It is hard to answer your custody/visitation question because it is so specific and judges have a wide level of discretion. Generally, the courts give great weight to existing schedules, but minor changes are always possible. But obviously, the dad has no way of being able to know what a judge is going to do.
This analysis is based on California law only.
I hope this helps!
Thanks for reaching out to the Law Offices of Andy Cook.
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