Do I need my ex’s permission to enroll my child in swimming lessons during my parenting time?

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No. You do not need your co-parent’s permission to enroll your child in extracurricular activities during your parenting time. The decision to permit participation is a parenting decision.  So long as a parent has sole or joint legal custody, they may enroll a child.  If there is a dispute about whether the enrollment unreasonably infringes on the other parent's custodial time or if the child's participation is in the child's best interest are issues that a court can resolve if the parents disagree.

The requirement for an agreement between the parents is usually tied to the expense of the activity, so that one parent cannot unilaterally commit the finances of the other parent.  However, since extracurricular activities are a discretionary add-on, there is no absolute right to require the other parent to share the cost (although, in practice, this is usually what courts order). 

Do gifts from grandparents constitute income for support?

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No. Experienced family law attorneys will tell clients that gifts do not constitute income available for support. 


Under the Marriage of Williamson, the court of appeal held that large and sporadic gifts from the husband’s parents to the husband during the marriage, which had supported a very lavish marital lifestyle, were not includable as the husband’s income for purposes for calculating child support.


In the Marriage of Williamson, the husband’s father had amended his trust to provide that any loan balances and accrued interest due and owing by the husband at the time of distribution would be subtracted from the husband’s portion of the inheritance, and had testified that he did not intend to make any further advances or “loans” to the husband other than a small annual gift. Because there was no reasonable indication that the husband’s father would continue to give the husband any gifts except the annual gift, imputing income based on prior gifts would lead to a child support order based on money that the husband did not have.  

Contact me at amanda@gordonfamilylaw.com for more information.

My child receives derivative Social Security payments due to my disability, is that income for support?

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California parents who are disabled or retired often inquire into how their child’s derivative benefits impact child support.


In California, the receipt of benefits by a child, or someone else on the child’s behalf, from federal programs or agencies such as Social Security, the Railroad Retirement Act, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs by reason of the support obligor’s disability or retirement may be credited toward the parent who pays child support (unless those amounts were taken into account in making the support order).
In 2014, a California appellate court held that a child’s derivative social security benefits do not constitute part of the parents income for the purposes of support. Marriage of Daugherty (2014).  

What this means is that if your child is receiving additional Social Security due to your own disability or retirement, the other parent will have a reduced amount of child support per month.

Contact me at amanda@gordonfamilylaw.com for more information.

Will the fact that my employer offers perks like meals, per diem, and gym memberships impact the amount of child support I pay?

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Yes. Under Marriage of Schulze, employer perks are income available for support to the extent that they reduce a person’s living expenses.   For example, in California the use of a company car and company condo at below market rate was taken into consideration when awarding support.  However, there are some limitations on this rule as it does not encompass rent free housing outside of the employment benefits context.

Contact me at amanda@gordonfamilylaw.com for more information.