Is there an income cap on child support in California?

No. The §4055 formula has no income cap; its top band, operative September 1, 2024, covers combined net disposable income over $15,000 a month. Under §4057(b), the guideline can be rebutted where an extraordinarily high earner's guideline amount exceeds the children's needs.

When are assets valued in a California divorce?

Under Family Code §2552, as near as practicable to the time of trial. On 30 days' notice and for good cause shown, the court may value all or part of them at a date after separation and before trial.

When is a California marriage of long duration?

For the purpose of retaining jurisdiction, Family Code §4336 presumes a marriage of 10 years or more, measured from marriage to separation, is of long duration; the court may consider separation periods during it, and nothing in the statute precludes a court from finding a marriage of under 10 years to be of long duration. For marriages that are not of long duration, §4320 makes the reasonable period to become self-supporting generally one-half the marriage, without limiting the court's discretion to order longer or shorter support.

California High-Net-Worth Divorce: 2026 Rules and Figures

Q: What happens if a spouse hides assets in a California divorce?

Family Code §1101 provides for an award of 50 percent of an asset undisclosed or transferred in breach of fiduciary duty, plus attorney's fees and court costs, or 100 percent for a breach within the ambit of Civil Code §3294 (oppression, fraud or malice).

California divides a high-net-worth couple's community estate equally unless a Family Code §2550 exception applies. The practical effect: the money is decided earlier, by classification, valuation date, disclosure and reimbursement of traced separate property. Child support has no income cap; §4057(b) lets a court depart from the guideline where an extraordinarily high earner's guideline amount exceeds the children's needs.

Key figures

Over $15,000/month combined net disposable income: top child-support band since September 1, 2024 (§4055).
10 years, marriage to separation: long-duration presumption for retaining jurisdiction (§4336).
107,146 marital filings, fiscal year 2024-25 (Judicial Council).
January 1, 1994: community property section operative (§760).

What counts as community property in a California divorce?

Property a married person acquires during the marriage while domiciled in California is community property, unless a statute provides otherwise. That is Family Code §760, operative since January 1, 1994. It covers real or personal property wherever located.

Section 770 lists what stays separate:

Property a spouse owned before marriage.
Property acquired after marriage by gift, bequest, devise or descent.
The rents, issues and profits of that property.

Section 771 draws the line at the far end. A spouse's earnings and accumulations after the date of separation are that spouse's separate property.

In a divorce or legal separation, §2550 requires equal division of the community estate, in the judgment or later if the court expressly reserves jurisdiction. The three exceptions are a written agreement, a stipulation in open court, or another provision of the same division of the Family Code (Division 7, on division of property).

When are assets and debts valued in a California divorce?

A California court values assets and debts as near as practicable to the time of trial, under Family Code §2552. Section 2552(b) lets it instead value all or any portion of them at a date after separation and before trial. That takes 30 days' notice by the moving party and good cause shown.

Read together, §2550 and §2552 mean the date chosen fixes which number gets divided when an estate's largest asset, such as an operating business or a concentrated stock position, moves in value.

What disclosure do spouses owe each other in a California divorce?

In a California divorce, disclosure comes as a preliminary declaration early on and a final one at settlement or before trial.

Preliminary declaration of disclosure. Under §2104(f), each spouse serves it with the petition or response, or within 60 days of filing it. Written agreement or court order can extend those dates.
Final declaration of disclosure. Under §2105(a), it is due by the time the parties agree on property or support, other than pendente lite support. If the case goes to trial, it is due no later than 45 days before the first assigned trial date. A court can order otherwise for good cause. Section 2105(d) lets the parties waive the final declaration by mutual stipulation, made under penalty of perjury.

Family Code §721 makes the relationship between spouses a confidential one that requires the highest good faith and fair dealing. It gives each spouse the same rights and duties as nonmarital business partners under Corporations Code §§16403, 16404 and 16503.

Family Code §1101 provides for an award to the injured spouse of 50 percent of any asset undisclosed or transferred in breach of fiduciary duty, plus attorney's fees and court costs. Where the breach falls within the ambit of Civil Code §3294 (oppression, fraud or malice), the award is 100 percent of that asset.

When is separate property reimbursed in a California divorce?

A California spouse is entitled to reimbursement, on division, for contributions to acquiring community property that are traced to a separate property source. Under Family Code §2640, the right is lost if that spouse made a written waiver or signed a writing with that effect.

Down payments, payments for improvements, and principal paid down on a loan used to buy or improve the property all count. Interest, maintenance, insurance and taxes do not. Reimbursement is "without interest or adjustment for change in monetary values" and "may not exceed the net value of the property at the time of the division."

Take a hypothetical, not a real case. A spouse inherits $400,000 during the marriage, separate property under §770. The spouse uses it as the down payment on a home the couple buys as community property. If the spouse can trace the down payment to the inheritance and signed no waiver, §2640 sets the claim at $400,000, with no interest and no inflation adjustment. If the home's net value at division is $300,000, the claim stops at $300,000.

How does marriage length affect spousal support in California?

Except in a long-duration marriage, a California supported spouse's "reasonable period of time" to become self-supporting "generally shall be one-half the length of the marriage." That is Family Code §4320, in subdivision (l) as currently lettered. The same section says that nothing in it limits the court's discretion to order support for a greater or lesser length of time. The court may do so based on the section's other listed factors, §4336 and the parties' circumstances.

Section 4336 draws the long-duration line. For the purpose of retaining jurisdiction, a marriage of 10 years or more is presumed to be of long duration. The presumption affects the burden of producing evidence. The marriage is measured from the date of marriage to the date of separation, and the court may consider periods of separation during it. The statute also says nothing in that subdivision precludes a court from determining that a marriage of less than 10 years is a marriage of long duration.

On the statute's terms, a couple who separate nine years and eight months after the wedding fall short of the 10-year presumption, but a court is not barred from treating the marriage as long in duration.

Does California cap child support for high earners?

California's child support formula has no income cap. Its top band, from September 1, 2024, covers combined net disposable income over $15,000 a month. Under §4057(b), as amended effective September 1, 2024, the guideline presumption can be rebutted where the paying parent's income is extraordinarily high and the guideline amount exceeds the children's needs.

The guideline, Family Code §4055, was replaced by SB 343 (Stats. 2023, ch. 213), operative September 1, 2024. SB 343 kept the guideline formula and changed its K-factor table. That table sets the multiplier K by the parents' total net monthly disposable income (TN).

Under the table from September 1, 2024, K for TN over $15,000 a month is 0.12 + 1,200/TN, before a further statutory adjustment. Before September 1, 2024, the top band was TN over $10,000, with K = 0.12 + 800/TN. That band was open-ended too, and it is superseded.

Arithmetic on the table from September 1, 2024 gives a top-band K of 0.160 at combined net disposable income (TN) of $30,000 a month. The superseded band gives 0.147 at the same income. Neither number is printed in the statute. Each is a multiplier before the statute's further adjustment, not a support amount.

How long does a California divorce take to become final?

In California, marital status ends no sooner than six months after service of the summons and petition or the respondent's appearance, whichever is earlier. That is Family Code §2339. The court can extend the period for good cause. The wait governs marital status only, not property division or support.

Under §2320, no divorce judgment can be entered unless one spouse meets a residency rule, except as §2320(b) provides. That spouse must have been a California resident for six months, and a resident of the filing county for three months, immediately before the petition is filed.

How many divorce and separation cases are filed in California each year?

The Judicial Council's 2026 Court Statistics Report records 107,146 marital filings in California superior courts in fiscal year 2024-25. It counts cases filed, not divorces completed. It combines dissolutions, legal separations and nullities.

CDC does not publish a California divorce rate. Its Stats of the States page for California lists the 2024 divorce rate as "Not reported."

Not covered here: tracing money mixed with community funds, and case law on good cause for an earlier valuation date.

California high-net-worth divorce at a glance, 2026

On the statutes' terms, questions left to the court include whether guideline child support fits an extraordinarily high earner (§4057(b)) and how long spousal support lasts (§4320).

Rule	Figure	Source	Effective date or year
Community property	Acquired during marriage while domiciled in California	Fam. Code §760	Operative Jan 1, 1994
Division of community estate	Equal, unless agreed otherwise or the Code provides otherwise	Fam. Code §2550	Statute
Valuation date	Near trial; earlier date on 30 days' notice and good cause	Fam. Code §2552	Statute
Preliminary disclosure	With petition or response, or within 60 days of filing	Fam. Code §2104(f)	Statute
Final disclosure	At agreement, or 45 days before first assigned trial date	Fam. Code §2105(a)	Statute
Breach of fiduciary duty	50% of the asset plus fees and costs; 100% for oppression, fraud or malice	Fam. Code §1101	Statute
Separate-property reimbursement	No interest; capped at net value at division	Fam. Code §2640	Statute
Child support, top K band	TN over $15,000/month: 0.12 + 1,200/TN	Fam. Code §4055 (SB 343)	Sept 1, 2024
High-income rebuttal	Extraordinarily high income; amount exceeds children's needs	Fam. Code §4057(b)	As amended Sept 1, 2024
Spousal support duration	Generally one-half the length of the marriage; court may order longer or shorter	Fam. Code §4320(l)	Statute
Long-duration presumption	10 years, marriage to separation, for retaining jurisdiction; court may find a shorter marriage long in duration	Fam. Code §4336	Statute
Residency	6 months in state, 3 months in county; §2320(b) exception	Fam. Code §2320	Statute
Marital status wait	6 months from the earlier of service or appearance	Fam. Code §2339	Statute

This article is general legal information about California law as of October 2026, not legal advice. Statutes and indexed figures change; confirm current figures with the cited source or a licensed California attorney. Published by Aparti.