Child Support

California's rising unemployment rate is driving a steep increase in child support cases, as the newly jobless appeal for increases in monthly payments or argue that they can no longer afford the amounts ordered by the court. In Los Angeles County, about 450 new cases are filed each day, double the amount at this time last year. More than 3,000 calls come in daily -- up 25% -- increasingly from custodial parents asking child support staffers to crack down on deadbeats.

CHILD actors, like tiny Rodney Dangerfields, have a hard time getting respect. Often viewed as puppets of stage-struck parents or grown fodder for where-are-they- now stories, it's easy to overlook the work they do. But family shows require kids as much as moms and dads, and some of those shows need the kids to carry a heavy load. Three young actors -- from the comedy "Everybody Hates Chris," the drama "Medium" and the hybrid that is "Desperate Housewives" -- make it all look easy.

Pop star Britney Spears must increase her child support payments to ex-husband Kevin Federline by $5,000 a month as part of a custody settlement agreed to Friday. Under the terms of the deal approved by Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon, Spears will pay a total of $20,000 a month to the former backup dancer. She will also pay his $250,000 legal bill from lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan.

In the weeks after three laptops went missing from a Los Angeles County Child Support Services office, officials sent letters to 243,000 clients in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties, warning that their personal information -- including Social Security numbers -- might be at risk. The computers were stored at the secured Child Support Services Department headquarters in the City of Commerce but went missing sometime during the weekend of Feb. 24, officials said.

A judge has cleared the way for two children of Irvine Co. owner Donald L. Bren to take their father to court in a 4-year-old fraud case that may illuminate the wealth and lifestyle of one of America's most private billionaires. Jennifer McKay Gold and two children she had with Bren -- Christie A. Bren, 18, and David L. Bren, 15 -- sued the real estate magnate in May 2003, contending Bren withheld emotional and financial support that he had allegedly promised.

For one deadbeat dad, a flight back from China turned out to be more costly than he could have imagined. The father, whose name was not released, earlier this week paid $311,491 in back child and spousal support -- the largest amount ever collected in the United States -- after federal authorities refused to renew his passport while he was stuck in Hong Kong, Los Angeles County officials said Thursday.

Attention, athletes: The California Department of Child Support Services website has a handy-dandy calculator where you can input your income and other financial and personal details and receive an estimate of how much child support might be ordered by a judge. Our initial guess: The more than $30,000 a month celebrity gossip site TMZ.

Christie and David Bren just want what's due them, their lawyer says; no more, no less. And by their calculations, that could be about $2.2 million a month -- each. The teenage children of billionaire Orange County land developer Donald L. Bren will return to court Jan. 3 to try to force their father to pay child support commensurate with his wealth. Bren, chairman of the Irvine Co.

Re "Bren's children seeking millions," Dec. 25 Greed seems to float to the top of one more story of spoiled children in our culture of opulence. Thousands of dollars a month is not sufficient for two teenagers to squander because they want millions. Where is Mom when this is happening? We have developed a whole new society that has never been exposed to want because we parents have found it easier just to give. These rewards are given to avoid a proper regard for the work ethic.