Legal Question in Family Law in California

A child support agency in CA has claimed they have been issuing child support documents for the past 4 years. However, I was stationed overseas most of this time and never received any paperwork what so ever. I asked them to send proof of paper work and all they delivered was paperwork from the summons in 2009 when I lived in VA. Where would I find records of the previous summons? Can I be held liable for the previous amounts when I did not know about them?


Asked on 1/28/10, 9:58 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Cristin Lowe Law Office of Cristin M. Lowe

You do have a case file and you should be able to receive copies of all documents in that file. Since it sounds like you're not living in California, you might want to consider retaining an attorney here. At the very least, find someone willing to go and purchase copies of your file for you. I don't recommend waiting for the Department of Child Support Services, since I think it's better for you to be proactive in this case.

IF there is proof that you were served four years ago, then yes, you'll be liable. You might also want to consider talking to your JAG about this issue. There is something called the Civil Servicemen's Relief Act which is intended to protect military members such as yourself from being the victims of default judgments when you are unavailable to appear in Court.

Due to the high stakes of this matter, you'll want to retain an attorney if at all possible.

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Answered on 2/02/10, 12:51 pm


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