My question involves child support in the State of: California
Hi! I am new here, and I have a few questions about my husband's custody/child support case. Sorry if this is too long. We are meeting with an attorney on the 14th, but we are just curious... Here's the background:
1. DH and his ex divorced in California. They shared 50/50 custody and support was set at $0. Child was 6 at the time.
2. A year later, his ex/BM moved several hundred miles away, leaving the child with my DH. They never filed the move/change with the court. No parenting time agreement was established, nor was child support. Visits happened when the BM requested them; they were sporadic throughout the school year but the child spent breaks and summer with mom and her new BF. The visits were pretty bad/chaotic.
3. About a year later, DH and child moved out of state with the mom's consent. Visitation was about the same until the longer visits got a bit dicey. E.g., mom got a DUI with the child in the car; child gained almost 30 pounds one summer because he was left alone a lot.
4. DH finally filed for and was awarded sole custody and had custody jurisdiction moved to our state. Mother was served several times and never once responded to anything. She basically let the jurisdiction move to our state and surrendered custody. She never requested parenting time, and none was established by the court. Magically and miraculously, the custody order includes a handful of economic provisions: out-of-pocket medical, dental, orthodontic, psychiatric/psychological reimbursements, for example. As per federal law, child support remains in California. DH did not pursue it at the time, because BM started paying $300 a month in child support. DH trusted her. Big mistake! She paid for 18 months before she stopped (right about the time her new boyfriend moved in...)
5. DH and I are fine financially. We don't NEED child support, but child support is NOT our money; it's for the child. Any money we would get goes into a college fund or is used for clothes and other expenses that arise. BM hasn't paid a nickel of the out-of-pocket medical (the child has braces now).
Soooo, DH wants to file for child support. Child sees his mother between 50 and 65 days a year; sometimes less. It's usually about 50. DH is worried that because he makes more now, he might end up paying BM child support for those 50-65 days a year. Here's why: She used to make about 1/2 to 3/4 what DH makes. She now claims she can't work because her back hurts (although she can still travel and do sports. etc.), giving her an income of $0, basically. She is not on disability as far as we know, and she is now telling people she's becoming a photographer??? Ugh. Making matters more sketchy, both DH and BM are self-employed/independent contractors. DH has a sole proprietorship and uses a software system that tracks earnings, but she can and will lie about what she makes—despite being audited two years ago.
Is there any chance this could happen? It seems we would just skip the child support if there's a likelihood that her "poor me" attitude could work. If it helps, child has lived with DH full time for about 6.5 years.
Thanks in advance for any insight you can offer.

