Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Deadbeat Dad has little/no income

He should contact legal aid immediately. If the children are for whom the aid was paid are in their 30's it is probable that the statute of limitations ran before the law changed to remove the time limit for collecting support arrearages.

The state can attach his house and car to pay the judgment. Whether they will is another issue. It may be beneficial for him to record a homestead on his home.

Re: Deadbeat Dad has little/no income

In addition to the answer by Mr. Johnson, I would also consider aggressive counter-action by your brother. I had a case several years ago in which the San Jose prosecutor was attempting to go after my client in Washington, even though they legally could not collect it. They backed down when the fact was pointed out to them. If they had not been challenged, I'm sure they would have collected just by the threat of government power. I wanted my client to file a RICO action against them but he was just happy to have them off his back.

If, as is likely the case, the statute of limitations ran before the law was changed (according to Mr. Johnson's answer), I would recommend he try to go after them for RICO and anything else a CA attorney might know of, such as civil rights. The reason for this would be that the government would be threatening your brother and taking his property with the full knowledge they had no legal right to do so. (I don't know about CA law, but in WA, if the statute of limitations has run before a new (and longer) statute is passed in its place, the new does not apply because the running of the old already cut off their right to collect.)

As a second point, you say your brother is in a second state. One possible defense might be based on Sec. 1738B. - "Full faith and credit for child support orders" at http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/28/1738B.html. Sec 1738B(h)(3) says "Period of limitation. - In an action to enforce arrears under a child support order, a court shall apply the statute of limitation of the forum State or the State of the court that issued the order, whichever statute provides the longer period of limitation." I would argue that if CA has no statute of limitation, the statute of limitation of his state of residence (which I presume is has already run) would apply because the federal law does not contemplate a state having no statute of limitation.

Another point that may be worth considering is a legal challenge to the law that a "no-statute-of-limitation law" is somehow unconstitutional.

I have not researched this issue and I am not a CA lawyer, but it sounds like your brother might have a good case.

Re: Deadbeat Dad has little/no income

You have received some pretty valuable advice and your case is very interesting and challenging. As lawyers we get too few really challenging cases. If your brother owns a house, he may not qualify for legal aid. Also, attorney's in private practice are more likely to hanlde your case aggressively. I believe that if it is not possible to attack enforcement of the judgment you stand a very good chance of limiting the enforcement, maybe setting payments on the judgment at a nominal amount. This is something that does need pursuing. Good Luck, Pat McCrary