New Year may be fitting time for child support evaluation

Too often California families let work and other commitments get in the way of spending time with the people they love the most. This can be especially true for divorced parents who only get limited time with their children pursuant to their divorce and custody orders. While custody arrangements can sometimes be modified to give adults more time with their children, parents can take other steps as well to make sure their kids are provided for even when they are not together.

In California, child support is an important tool many children of divorced parents need in order meet the every day expenses and needs of growing up. From new shoes to medical needs to extracurricular expenses to even basic provisions like food, not all custodial parents can make ends meet without financial support from their exes for their shared children. While courts often set reasonable child support amounts at the time of a couple's divorce, what is reasonable can sometimes change over the course of a child's life.

The New Year is a great time to reevaluate your child support determination to establish if it is sufficient for the upbringing of your child and fair to both parents. Whether you are the paying parent or the custodial parent, it's helpful to take the time to learn about how to modify an existing order or how to create a new order for a child that is not currently subject to a support determination.

The law firm of Burch, Coulston & Shepard can help you achieve your family law plans and goals in the coming year. Our firm protects the interests of those going through divorce, child custody disputes and child support situations, as well as other family law areas. Your children deserve to have their best interests met in 2015 - this objective may be met through an appropriate and current child support determination this January.