Legal Question in Family Law in California

Smith Osler is a means of calculating bonus income. The % varies based on the base income as well as the amount of the raise. Generally where there is a Smith Osler order, the court will attach a table showing the percentage of additional support based on the bonus increments.

Smith/Ostler refers to a case that approved the trial courts' setting a percentage of future bonus income that will be added to a support order. Such orders are intended to avoid unnecessary future litigation. If bonus income was included in spousal and child support calculations, and future years' bonuses fell short, the paying spouse would have to go to court every year to get an adjustment, and until the adjustment was awarded, they would be over-paying. On the other hand, if the receiving spouse did not get some provision for bonus income to be included, they would have to track down the paying spouse's bonus every year and then go in and ask for an order for the appropriate share of that income. Under Smith/Ostler, the court calculates support based on base income, and then orders that an additional percentage of bonus income be paid when bonuses are received. What percentage can only be determined on a case-by-case basis, but a significant factor will be what percentage of base income is ordered as support under the normal support determinations.