Legal Question in Family Law in California

My youngest daughter from another marriage was diagnosed with Leukemia thus putting a hardship on my family. I was just approved for food stamps, and can no longer pay the $700/ mo. for support and arrears. My payments are $350 for support and $350 for arrears. Can a modification handle the arrears adjustment or is that a seperate motion I need to file? Is there such a thing as an emergency modification? As this process takes quite a bit of time and I am not able to pay my medical/utility bills in full. Thank you for your time.


Asked on 11/09/09, 11:53 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Tina Chen Law Office of Tina Chen

You need to file a modification motion asap. This will allow you to modify your current support payments and request your arrears payment per month be lowered. As for an "emergency modification" the Courts generally will not handle financial issues on an ex parte (that's what we call emergency motions) basis. However, you can file an ex parte OSC to modify support and for an order shortening time. This way, the Court can get you in for the hearing sooner than if you just filed the motion without requesting an order to shorten time.

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Answered on 11/16/09, 4:40 pm


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