If you receive a personal injury settlement or award in San Diego, you may be wondering if or how any existing child support obligations could impact the money you receive. There are some key factors to understand when it comes to how California handles personal injury payments and child support calculations.
Existing Child Support Orders
Most personal injury plaintiffs don’t receive massive sums – typically less than $24k – but even a small sum may affect child support payments.
If you already pay court-ordered child support, then your injury settlement or award may impact your child support amount going forward. Generally, under California law, the court can consider your financial resources and assets when determining your ongoing child support obligation, including any new income from a legal settlement.
So, if you receive a sizable personal injury payment, the court may revise your existing monthly child support amount to account for the additional monies available. They determine support amounts based on state guidelines that factor the parents’ incomes and custody arrangements. The court could raise your payments to reflect your increased financial resources from the settlement.
Garnishing Judgments for Back Child Support
If you owe back child support payments, then creditors and the court can potentially garnish part of your injury award to cover those arrears. For example, if you won a $50,000 settlement but owe $10,000 in overdue child support, the court could order $10,000 of it paid to your child’s other parent to satisfy that debt.
By law, collecting overdue child support takes priority over many other debts. So, if a judgement exists for owed payments, your injury monies could be diverted to fulfill it before you ever receive the funds.
Protecting Your Award with a Special Needs Trust
To shield any settlement or judgment funds from being used for back child support or to raise your ongoing support, you may be able to structure the monies through a special needs trust. These protective trusts are designed to hold funds for a beneficiary without impacting their eligibility for certain government programs.
Properly drafted, these trusts can also potentially exclude the assets from calculations for child support purposes. You would need to speak to an experienced attorney to set up this type of protective arrangement appropriately. It can help lawfully guard the injury monies for your own or your family’s future needs.
Get Legal Advice in San Diego
The interactions between injury awards, owed child support, and adjusted support orders can be complex. Once your San Diego personal injury law firm has secured you a settlement, you need specialist advice on how it will impact your child support payments.
To fully understand your rights and navigate the system appropriately, consult with a knowledgeable expert. They can advise you on the options to either protect a portion of your settlement for the future or arrange to meet your existing child support obligations lawfully. With proper legal guidance, you can make informed choices in this situation.
Any personal injury award you receive while paying existing child support could potentially impact your ongoing obligations as well as past-due amounts you owe. Understanding the basics allows you to seek good counsel and make mindful decisions going forward.
