Legal Question in Family Law in California

Child support modification

In '04 my ex took me court to modify child support. To his surprise the support went up. Within 3 weeks of the increase he quit his job where his paycheck was being garnished. Since that time he has held numberous jobs. Every time DCSS would catch up to where he was working & serve a wage assignment he would quit that job. Then he filed bankruptcy prior to the new laws & wiped out all his unsecured debt. He is currently remarried to woman who is self employed. I've been informed that he has worked at the business but all income is taken in his wife's name. He has closed his bank accounts & only his wife has a bank account, which he runs all his money/checks through. I also know that he has been working ''under-the-table''. He went from making $50k+ /year to $0. He is a healthy, intelligent man in his 40's. There should be no reason he can't work and help support his children. DCSS seems to be able to do anything since he has learned how to get around the system. In addition to being $20k+ behind in child support he also owes me over $1k for his half of the kids medical expenses. Is there any thing I can do? I live in another state & I want to hire an atty in CA to see if anything can be done thru the court system. How do I find one?


Asked on 6/14/06, 6:56 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq. The Law Offices of Norman Gregory Fernandez & Associates

Re: Child support modification

What you need is a good investigator to get proof of what he is doing. I know one. You may call my office.

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Answered on 6/14/06, 8:54 pm
KATHIE SIMMONS KATHIE SIMMONS

Re: Child support modification

You should get an attorney in the county were ex lives to pursue collection. You can find one on this site or email me privately and I will help you. The bankruptcy did not discharge the child support arrears or the medical expense reimbursment. You are not an unsecured creditor. It sounds as if the current order is based upon his previous earnings so one option is to do nothing and let the arrears grow with 10% interest. You can go after it at any time even if the kids are grown. You can also propose a deal that if he pays the current support and some of the arrears he will be forgiven for the rest. If it's stuctured so that the support ends when the children are 18 he would then be free and clear. The real value of the arrears is about half when you consider the cost to collect.

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Answered on 6/15/06, 3:29 pm


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