Child Support & Arrearages

Merrisa L. Coleman-Bishop, Northern California and San Jose Child Support Lawyer

If you have questions concerning your rights or obligations concerning the support of a child whom you no longer live with, or if you need help enforcing or changing the terms of an existing child support order, San Jose, California child support attorney Merrisa Coleman-Bishop can offer the necessary legal advice and representation.

In her fifteen years of family law practice, she has helped many parents with difficult child support problems. She represents clients in San Jose, across the Bay Area, and throughout Santa Clara, Sacramento, Auburn, Alameda, Santa Clara, and Placer counties.

Contact San Jose Divorce attorney Merrisa Coleman-Bishop at 408-217-8506 or by e-mail.

Whether the child support situation arises during a divorce or after adjudication of paternity, child support obligations are first determined under the California child support guidelines. The guidelines spell out a child support payment amount based on the incomes of both parents and the percentage of time that each parent has custody of the child.

Modifying Child Support Agreements for Bay Area and Northern California Clients

If other circumstances — such as unemployment, financial responsibility for other children or elderly parents, medical conditions, or hardship situations — indicate that the child support amount should be adjusted up or downward, then the parent seeking the adjustment must convince either the other parent in negotiations or the Family Court judge at a hearing.

San Jose child support attorney Merrisa Coleman-Bishop has fifteen years of experience handling child support matters. She will help you convince the other parent of the necessity of modifying the payments, and will also challenge the modifications if it is in the best interest of her clients to do so.

Enforcing Child Support Payments in California

In cases involving a parent's extended unemployment without acceptable excuse, the other parent can argue either for an imputed income adjustment to reflect what the other parent should reasonably be earning. A parent may also apply to the court for a Work Search Order that will require the unemployed parent to find work soon or risk contempt of court.

If a parent refuses to pay child support, Attorney Coleman-Bishop will protect your interests and pursue arrearages from the paying parent plus 10% interest on any back payments. So long as there is cooperation between the parties, we will seek to collect the payments on good terms.

However, if it is necessary, we will aggressively protect your interests in Family Court and seek any means necessary to collect the full child support you are owed.

Contact the Law Office of Merrisa Coleman-Bishop in San Jose

Whether you're engaged in divorce proceedings now, or need help with the enforcement or modification of an existing order for child support, contact Merrisa Coleman-Bishop for a clear explanation of your options and the experienced representation that you need. She represents people and families in the Bay Area and throughout Northern California including Sacramento.