Legal Question in Family Law in California

Yes the Dept. of Child Support Services automatically goes after child support when a county reports a parent has gone on public assistance. As for trying to get a lower rate, there just is no way to tell you anything about that based on the small amount of information you provide, and really it's not possible in an internet Q&A format anyway. The child support order should have been based on the number calculated by the Dissomaster software that all the courts use to run the calculations required by the Family Code. But that result is only as good as the information put into the program about such things as income, deductions, other childeren, etc. If the information the county used was correct, there is no real way to change the amount. If anything was not correct, however, he has a right to review. If he thinks the information used was wrong he needs to start by asking for a review by the county office of the Dept. of Child Support Services. They will send him forms he will need to fill out and return within 20 days, along with pay stubs and last year's tax return. If he doesn't do it in 20 days, the review will be denied.