Legal Question in Family Law in California
Irrevocable Trust to obtain child support?
Dear lawguru.
A concern that I have is that my ex husband has not paid me a dime in 6 years for any child support since we've been divorced. I' ve been struggling financially with two children to provide for their well-being. The last I heard he has not tried to hold down a job but rather is job hopping so his wages won't be garnished. The only asset's that I'm aware of is that he has is Irrevocable Trust fund that's been in his side of the family for years. However his grandmother is primarily oversee's it and distributes the monies to him as she deems to be appropriate. The question I have for you is; Am I entitled to any of that money for child support? Are there laws that can seize any of those monies to help go toward the past arrears of this child support monies that have been unpaid for 6 years going on 7 now? If so, which laws and codes might I be able to refer too? I live in California but the grandmother oversees the trust in Texas. Her grandson also lives here in California. Can You Please help me?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Irrevocable Trust to obtain child support?
There are some suggestions that I would give you. You could obtain an attorney in Texas to register the order in Texas. There is a real question about whether the California courts have jurisdiction over a Texas trust and therefore a Texas attorney will be required to attach the trust. Second, you could contact an attorney and have your ex cited for contempt. He'll probably spend time picking up trash on the highway or some other community service. After a few days he may decide it is better to pay the support. Finally, you can ask the local District Attorney (or Bureau of Child Support Enforcement) to enforce the order. They can suspend his drivers license, which may motivate him. Good Luck, Pat McCrary
Re: Irrevocable Trust to obtain child support?
Without knowing the full details of the trust you describe I can only give you a general answer. Yes, you can garnish trust payments to you ex, but only payments that the benificiary is entitled to by the terms of the trust. You cannot force the trustee to make any other payments pursuant to a garnishment!! In other words when the trust makes a payment to your ex husband, you can force the trustee to pay you pursuant to a garnishment. Depending upon the trust, it may be that the grandmother would suspend payments if there was a garnishment. It all depends on the trust.