The 
>San Diego Union carried the story, just before the start of last weekend, of a billionaire who was sued by his adult children for the child support that they believed they should have received had their mother filed for guideline support instead of receiving non-guideline child support pursuant to signed, written contracts. It's an interesting story involving children suing their father for child support; a law suit for retroactive child support; and a child support issue decided by a jury.
Here are the individuals involved: Donald Bren reportedly a billionaire who made his money in real estate. Christie Bren, age 22, and David Bren, age 18, the children who never knew their bio-dad Donald and felt cheated by the amount of support paid. They filed suit upon attaining adulthood. And, finally, Jennifer McKay Gold, who had a relationship with Mr. Bren whereby the children Donald and Christie were born.
Reportedly, as each child was born, a child support contract was initiated between Bren and Gold. Child support, under California law, is determined by a mandatory guideline formula. The exception to this law applies in cases where the parents sign a private agreement for support; there is no public assistance helping mom and the children; the support is sufficient for the chid's needs; and, both parents voluntarily, without coercion, duress or fraud, enter into the agreement. Bren simply proved to the court that such agreements were executed between himself and Gold.
The jury trial was allowed as this was a civil litigation lawsuit performed outside of Family Court, where, to date, jury trials are not permitted. Child support orders are not obtained on a retroactive basis. This means that, in general, child support is permitted as of the date the child support motion is filed or on the date that the obligor parent is served with the motion. Here, the request was for child support retroactively many years. Again, this was a contract dispute in the Civil Law Court. The suit claimed that $400,000 per month should have been paid instead of the $3,500 to $18,000 per month that was paid by contract.
Any San Diego Certified Family Law Specialist attorney would know that this law suit involved a step uphill climb for the adult children bringing the suit; however, possibly they filed the action under a risk-reward analysis. The key point to remember is that California child support has no ceiling under the formula. The contracts apparently provided for an amount of child support substantially under the guideline. There are two parties to a contract. Consult with an independent Certified Family Law Specialist attorney before you enter into a child support contract. Work with a forensic witness to determine the financial impact of the contract as against what the law provides. The San Diego divorce attorneys at the Law Office of Thomas M. Huguenor handle child custody and child support cases.
