The income of both spouses is used in the guidelines for determining the amount of child support. Essentially, payments from almost any source is considered income for calculating child support.
Under California law, for the most part, a new spouse's income is not used in the calculation for child support. It may only be considered when not doing so would cause extreme and severe hardship to the child involved. Usually, the calculation is made strictly using the parents' gross income.
In many cases, filing in small claims court is the fastest and easiest way for people to legally settle their disputes. The person suing is the plaintiff, and the person being sued is the defendant. A person cannot sue for more than $12,500 in most cases. A business or public entity cannot sue for more than $6,250.
Today the 20 justices of the First Appellate District serve the residents of twelve Northern California counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano, and Sonoma.
All Superior Courts in California have authority over a wide variety of case types: Civil Cases - Includes both limited civil cases ($35,000 or less) and unlimited civil cases (over $35,000). Criminal Cases - Both felony and misdemeanor crimes (including such offenses as driving under the influence).
Alameda County has courts in ten different locations. Here is a rundown of the locations of each courthouse in Alameda County.
Superior Court of Alameda County.