My Ex Moved Out of California Can Our Child Support Order Be Changed By the Court In the New State?

Question: My Ex Moved Out of California Can Our Temporary Support Order Be Changed By the Court In the New State? Here in California a temporary order concerning child support, spousal support and custody was issued by the court. The order included an Ostler-Smith  bonus order. My ex has since moved out of state with kids. Once divorce is final in CA can child support be moved to the new state and will this get rid of Ostler-Smith order?

 

Answer: Maybe, but the default setting is once a California Court acquired jurisdiction in acase in which  child support was in issue, California Court’s jurisdiction over child support continues throughout the child’s minority. Only one state can have child support jurisdiction at any given point in time. Exclusive continuing jurisdiction over child support remains with the state that first issued the child support order. To change that jurisdiction, the parties must file a written consent with the issuing state (California) for another state to modify the order and assume continuing exclusive jurisdiction over the order. You can register your CA order in the state where the other party moved, but only for enforcement purposes. I am not sure why you thought the Ostler-Smith component of the order would be removed. Each state’s custody and child support are different; however, most states do account for bonus income with respect to child support.

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