Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: Welfare payments

A lot of time has passed, however, often the San Diego County DCSS will go back and compute support based upon the amount of support that you should have paid by calculating that support based upon you actual earnings. Also, there is a case, marriage of Trainotti, which says that the court can chose not to enforce support during a period of time that the children were actually living with you. You will need proof of your earnings during that time and proof that the children were living with you. School records are good for proof that they were living with you, otherwise you will need declarations. You may get a social security printout that shows how much you earned each of those years, I have been successful using those items with DCSS in San Diego County. Time is not your freind, you must act quickly. Also, you will probably need an attorney, there are too many mistakes to be made without an attorney and they may not make the same deal with you personally, since you can't argue the law to them. Good Luck, Pat McCrary

Re: Welfare payments

It depends. I would have to know if there were a support order already in place before 1995 that you were aware of--if this is the case, then you have a tough hill to climb as the law requires you to bring a motion to modify child support when there are changed circumstances--but there are exceptions to this rule.

On the other hand, if there were no prior order then you can discharge in bankruptcy all arrears that allgedly came due before the date of the first court order. If, however, there were a court order, but you were not aware of it, then you may be able to set aside the order on the grounds of extrinsic fraud (you were never served notice). If you would like any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

Re: Welfare payments

Dear Inquirer:

Nothing herein shall create an attorney-client relationship, unless a written retainer agreement is executed by the attorney and client. This communication contains general information only. Nothing herein shall constitute an attorney-client communication nor legal advice. There likely are deadlines and time-limits associated with your case; you should contact an attorney of your choice for legal advice specific to your personal situation, at once.

If you haven't already done so, please visit my

web site at --

http://home.pacbell.net/edbjr/ OR

http://www.CaliforniaDivorceAttorney.com

The site contains quite a bit of general information about California Family Law, Tenants' Rights, and Juvenile Dependencies, as well as information about me (education, experience, et cetera) and my office (location, hours, fees, policies).

NOW, IN RESPONSE TO YOUR INQUIRY --

The facts that you have provided are not clear

enough and/or complete enough to provide a

definitive answer to you inquiry; however, I would say that generally you are responsible for reimbursement of aid paid on behalf of your children up to the amount of child support ordered for that period. In your case the child support order may have been invalid and the aid paid may have been fraudulent because you (or your parents) were supporting the children -- not your ex-wife. Contact an experienced Family Law attorney who practices in San Diego COunty for specific advise and possible representation on your behalf.

Thanks for sharing your interesting inquiry with us on LawGuru, and good luck with your case.