As a sub note, spousal support is the second bill you pay if you have to pay spousal support. So first it’s child support, then it’s spousal support, then it’s all of your other bills. Just as a note of reference on this, or an example, we had a case years and years ago where a client said directly to the judge after a child support order was made, our client stood up and said, “your Honor, I cannot afford that. I can’t afford to pay that child support order.” The judge asked him why? And he said, “because I only earn a certain amount of money from my income.” The judge asked him what he did for a living and he said, “I play guitar in a band and I play gigs at night.” The judge said directly to my client, “you will pay your child support, you will pay all of it, and you will pay on time. Or I will call you back to this court and I will force you to sell your guitar and get a real job.”
That is how serious the state of California and judges are about child support being paid and being paid properly.