Understanding Child Support and Spousal Support: The DissoMaster

Understanding Child Support and Spousal Support: The DissoMaster

There is no doubt that, for many, the financial uncertainty during divorce can feel scary. Trying to understand how to calculate spousal and child support can feel confusing and overwhelming. Fortunately, the calculation of financial obligations has been standardized in California because the courts and family lawyers routinely use software called “Dissomaster” to calculate and determine the amounts of child and spousal support obligations. The report generated by the Dissomaster program is often referred to as the “guideline.”

Using DissoMaster, the judge or the lawyer enters the financial information provided in financial disclosures submitted by both parties and the program calculates the amounts of child and spousal support owed, if any. The DissoMaster program uses the parties’ income, timeshare with the children, daily and other expenses as well as some tax issues to compute child and spousal support.

Items most often included in the DissoMaster report:

• Tax filing status

• The income of both parties

• The number of children requiring support

• The percentage of time each parent spends with the children

• Number of exemptions claimed by each party

• Health insurance premiums 

• Other taxable income

• Retirement plan contributions

• Union Dues

• Mandatory Retirement - usually only applies to government employees who are mandated to make contributions to their retirement plan.

• Property tax and deductible interest expenses

Once the financial figures are entered the DissoMaster creates a report that sets forth guideline child and spousal support obligations. For purposes of spousal support, the figures generated represent “temporary spousal support, which addresses spousal support from the time of the date of separation and the date of divorce.

Courts may not rely solely on the DissoMaster report when determining long-term spousal support. The Family Code sets forth several factors the court must use to determine spousal support. The following factors impact a determination of spousal support: the length of the marriage, the age and health of the supported party, earning capacity (what the supported party is able to earn), the standard of living while married, how much property or debt held, whether the supported party helped the supporting spouse to get an education, training, career or professional license, need and ability to pay (whether the spouse paying support has the means to pay spousal support, the impact of tax laws on spousal support, if there was a history of abuse in the relationship. If children are involved, the court also evaluates how caring for children impacted either spouse’s career and how working will impact the children.

Meditation offers the opportunity to have a say in your support agreement. While mediators generally use the DissoMaster as a guideline, mediating parties are able to create their own support agreements. 

If you are contemplating divorce and have questions about the Dissomaster program or flat-fee divorce mediation, please call PXP Mediation today at (310) 486-8842.