Parents Can Agree to Zero, But the Court Must Approve It
Although parents generally cannot waive child support outright, they can ask the court to approve a child-support order below guideline, including a zero-dollar order. But that requires more than just the parents agreeing between themselves. Under Family Code section 4065, the court may approve a below-guideline agreement only if the parties declare that they understand their child-support rights, are entering the agreement without coercion, that the agreement is in the child's best interests, that the child's needs will still be adequately met, and that the right to support has not been assigned because public assistance is involved and no public-assistance application is pending. San Diego Superior Court's Family Law Facilitator materials put it plainly: parents may agree to zero child support, but they cannot agree to waive child support, and the agreement must include a guideline calculation for court approval.
Why the Court Has to Sign Off
This is one of the biggest differences between child-support waiver language and spousal-support waiver language. With spousal support, adults can often decide to waive support between themselves. With child support, the court must independently decide whether the agreement is appropriate because the issue is not just what the parents want. The court has to be satisfied that the child is still being financially cared for and that the case is not one where public assistance rights have been assigned or an application for aid is pending. If the local child support agency is involved, that agency also has to approve the stipulation in the situations covered by the statute.
A Zero Order Is Not the Same as a Permanent Waiver
A zero child-support order is not the same thing as permanently giving up support forever. Family Code section 4065 specifically says that when the parties stipulate to child support below guideline, no change of circumstances needs to be shown later in order to modify the order up to the applicable guideline amount or above. In other words, if support is set at zero by agreement, either parent can later return to court and ask for guideline child support without having to overcome the same modification burden that often applies in other settings. California's general modification statute also says support orders may be modified or terminated as the court determines necessary.
Practical Takeaway
The practical rule is that California does not really allow parents to "waive" child support in the ordinary sense. What parents can do, with court approval, is agree to a zero-dollar or other below-guideline order if the child's needs are still adequately met and public-assistance concerns are not in play. But because that is not a true permanent waiver, either parent can later ask the court to set support at guideline.
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