Your Child’s Right to Support: The Fundamental Principle

Child support is not about the relationship between the parents. It is about the child’s right to financial support from both parents. Understanding this shifts the perspective from a personal dispute to an enforcement of a legal obligation that exists for the child’s benefit.

The Underlying Right

California Family Code § 3900 states that both parents have an equal obligation to support their children. This obligation is not contingent on the relationship between the parents, the paying parent’s relationship with the child, or any conduct by the custodial parent. A paying parent who argues ‘I don’t get to see my kids so I won’t pay’ is making a legally irrelevant argument — support and visitation are separate legal issues.

Support enforcement is not revenge — it’s your child’s right. Custodial parents sometimes hesitate to aggressively enforce support because they don’t want to seem vindictive. The correct frame is that you’re enforcing your child’s legal right to financial support from both parents. Courts and DCSS operate from exactly this frame. Pursuing every enforcement tool available is not vindictive — it’s doing your job as the parent responsible for collecting what the child is owed.

The California Child Support Recovery System gives custodial parents the exact tools and templates to enforce support orders, calculate arrears, and use every enforcement mechanism available. Request your free evaluation here.