“Can My Ex And I Agree On Child Support Outside Of Court?”
If you have no current order either from a judge or from child support, you can agree to informal support. That is, if there is no court involvement at all, you are free to make your own arrangements. However, if there is any support order from the court or from the California Department of Child Support Services, you need to have an official stipulation and order which the judge can sign to approve. This must be filed with the court, and if the Department of Child Support Services is involved in the case (either in filing the matter or enforcement or collection) you MUST get the signature and approval of a representative of Child Support Services before the judge will sign the order.
If you do not file the written agreement with the court, you are risking the possibility that the agreement will be lost and never filed, or invalidated by the court for some procedural or legal defect. There have been many cases of parties who are ordered to order support, subsequently change the amount, never reduce the order to a filed writing, and then find out later they owe thousands of dollars including statutory 10% interest.
If you are having trouble drafting or filing your agreement, you should consult an attorney to make sure your agreement is fully enforceable to avoid problems down the road.
DISCLAIMER: All legal principles quoted are valid as of the date of writing in the State of California. However, you should NEVER base your actions on a legal article, blog, or internet story, as facts in real life are complicated. You should have your case evaluated by an attorney experienced in the area of law needed for your case. In addition, there are often exceptions and potential changes to results that occur due to facts that you may think are trivial or unimportant. This article should not be taken in any way as legal advice on your specific legal matter.