Adult Cases
The spouse of an individual and the parent(s) of a minor wherever they reside are responsible relatives. Determination is made as to whether these relatives can assume full or partial support of the individual. This determination is made at the time of application and each annual agreement.
Family Cases
- Each other;
- Their minor children (under age 18); and
- Their 18-year-old children who are attending high school or a trade/technical school full-time and who expect to complete the school program before their 19th birthday.
Spouse
For purposes of determining support liability, a spouse is a person with whom the individual is legally married. Spouses are mutually responsible for each other unless a court of law has declared a legal separation, dissolution, divorce, or annulment of the marriage. California law recognizes any out-of-state marriage.
Estranged Spouse
A spouse who is separated because of legal or physical separation, dissolution, divorce, or annulment of the marriage.
Common-Law Marriage
For purposes of determining support liability, when there is no formal marriage, a common-law marriage may have been established in another state. While the definition may vary from state to state, there are three requirements for common-law marriage. The couple must:
- Agree to be married;
- Live together (cohabitate); and
- Represent themselves to the public as a married couple.
Note: California does not recognize common-law marriages unless they were established in states that recognize them.
Following is a list of states which recognize common-law marriage:
Alabama - Recognized before January 1, 2017, by mutual agreement, cohabitation, and mutual assumption of marital duties.
Colorado- Recognized by mutual agreement, cohabitation.
District of Columbia - Recognized by mutual agreement, cohabitation.
Florida - Recognized before January 2, 1968, by mutual agreement, cohabitation, and mutual assumption of marital duties.
Georgia - Recognized before January 1, 1997, by mutual agreement, cohabitation, and consummation according to law.
Idaho - Recognized before January 1, 1996, by mutual agreement, mutual assumption of marital duties.
Indiana -Recognized before January 1, 1958, by mutual agreement, cohabitation, and consummation according to law.
Iowa - Recognized by mutual agreement.
Kansas - Recognized by mutual agreement and holding each other out to the public as husband and wife.
Michigan - Recognized before January 1, 1957, by mutual agreement, cohabitation, and holding each other out to the public as husband and wife.
Mississippi - Recognized before April 5, 1956, by mutual agreement.
Montana - Recognized by mutual agreement and holding each other out to the public as husband and wife.
New Hampshire - Recognized by mutual agreement and cohabitation.
Ohio - Recognized before October 10, 1991, by mutual agreement and cohabitation.
Oklahoma - Recognized by mutual agreement and cohabitation.
Pennsylvania - Recognized before January 1, 2005, by mutual agreement.
Rhode Island - Recognized by mutual agreement and cohabitation.
South Carolina - Recognized by mutual agreement.
South Dakota - Recognized before July 1, 1959, by marriage, in fact, need exception circumstances.
Texas - Recognized by mutual agreement and holding each other out to the public as husband and wife.
Utah - Recognized by mutual agreement and holding each other out to the public as husband and wife.
U.S. Virgin Islands - Recognized on or before September 1, 1957, by mutual agreement.
Marital Like Situation
Marital like couples are those who live together as spouses but have no legal marriage under California law. Persons who are members of such couples, therefore, have no support responsibility for each other as responsible relatives.
Responsible Relative Need Scale
The difference between need and net income is the amount the spouse is considered to have available to meet the needs of the GR individual unless there is a conflicting court order establishing a contribution in a larger amount. In this instance, the amount of the court order is used.
The only hardship deductions allowed are medical expenses and court-ordered judgments. All hardship deductions must be verified when reported by the responsible relative on the PA 528.
Following is the scale:
| Number of Persons Within the Aided Unit |
Minimum Basic Standard of Adequate Care (MBSAC) (eff. 7/1/22) |
|---|---|
| 1 | $807 |
| 2 | $1,324 |
| 3 | $1,641 |
| 4 | $1,947 |
| 5 | $2,221 |
| 6 | $2,499 |
| 7 | $2,746 |
| 8 | $2,988 |
| 9 | $3,242 |
| 10 | $3,519 |
Plus $32 for each additional person within the aided unit.
This scale uses the State’s MBSAC as used in the CalWORKs program.
Available Income
Income is available if the applicant/participant only has to apply for, claim, or accept the income to obtain it.
Examples of available income are:
- Relative’s offer of a contribution;
- Unemployable Insurance Benefits (UIB)/Disability Insurance Benefits; and
- Supplemental Security Income (SSI)/State Supplemental Program (SSP) or Retirement Survivors Disability and Health Insurance (RSDHI) benefits, including benefits available by appealing SSI/SSP discontinuances and denials.
Hardship Deductions
The only hardship expenses that may be deducted from the responsible relative’s income to determine liability are medical expenses and court-ordered judgments. These expenses are allowed if reported by the responsible relative on the PA 528. The attachments to the signed and completed PA 528 are considered sufficient verification/documentation of the expenses for the responsible relative living separately from the individual.
Real and/or personal property holdings listed under Item 21 of the PA 528 are to be utilized to meet the needs of the individual.
Community Property
Real or personal property obtained by spouses during the marriage.
Victims of Domestic Violence/Battered Individuals
An individual who declares to be or to have been a victim of DV (i.e. physical, mental, sexual, and/or economic abuse, threats, tactics of power and control, and/or shaking) by an intimate partner or in the case of a minor, by the parent.