Legal Question in Family Law in California

You can file a motion with the court asking for a wage assignment. You may also want to consider contacting the Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) to open a file with them so they can assist on the child support collection and wage assignment. You do not need a court order to commence using your maiden name.

You should have gotten a wage assignment order along with the order for support. If you don't have a copy, you can get a certified copy from the court. You then serve it on his employer and him. If you find that too hard to figure out, Ms. Kock is correct you can use DCSS to help you. If you don't already have the wage assignment order, then definitely get DCSS to help. As for the name change, if it was not requested and ordered in the divorce judgement, there is a simple form you can file to do it now. Technically nothing is legally required to change your name, but it is better to dot your I's and cross your T's. The form is available in the forms section of the Judicial Council website: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/forms/