LA County Child Support has a FAQ page : http://cssd.lacounty.gov/faq.htm#esc7
Application for a Child Support case :http://cssd.lacounty.gov/forms/css2101.pdf
California’s Child Support Information Page :http://www.childsup.ca.gov/
Paternity FAQ: http://www.childsup.ca.gov/Resources/EstablishPaternity/EstablishingPaternityFAQs/tabid/253/Default.aspx
Random thought to chew on : even if it is determined that you are not the father, CA Courts can force you to continue to pay child support if it is in the “Best Interest” of the child.
You do not have to have Paternity established in order to apply for CalWORKS, but CalWORKS will ask you to assign your child support rights to them as a way to have your Cash Aid repaid. If you have been in Domestic Violence and this will place you in danger TELL someone when the process is starting.
In Alabama, child support is figured using Guidelines set out in legislation. These guidelines can be deviated from for good cause shown and if approved by a Judge, but for the most part, they stick to the formula; it’s pretty cut and dry. This is done not only in the spirit of fairness and equity to keep everyone’s support balanced, but also because of the sheer volume of Domestic cases coming through the Court system. If a Judge had to figure out every situation differently, nothing would ever get done, so they make a set formula to ensure speedy calculation. This is done in numerous other jurisdictions as well. If one is curious about child support in Alabama, there are some up to date Alabama Child Support Calculator(s) out there that will give a pretty close approximation of what your support Order will look like.