Your Complete Child Support Enforcement Checklist — The California Priority Order

California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation

With so many enforcement tools available, the question for most custodial parents isn’t what tools exist — it’s which to use first, in what order, for their specific situation. This checklist provides the priority sequence for California child support enforcement, organized by speed of collection, cost, and suitability for common obligor profiles.

Step 1: Open a DCSS Case If You Haven’t Already

If you don’t have an open DCSS case, open one immediately. DCSS provides free administrative enforcement — income withholding, tax intercept, license suspension, passport denial, and credit bureau reporting — that runs automatically without court filings or legal fees. For many cases, DCSS tools alone produce substantial collection. Even if you plan to pursue independent enforcement actions, having a DCSS case running simultaneously multiplies your enforcement reach.

Step 2: Verify Income Withholding Is Active

Confirm with your DCSS caseworker that an income withholding order is active and being complied with by the obligor’s employer. If the obligor is employed and withholding is active, this is your most reliable collection mechanism. If the obligor has changed employers, notify DCSS immediately so the withholding order can be transferred.

Step 3: Run the OEX to Discover Assets

File for a debtor’s examination in the superior court to discover the obligor’s complete financial picture. Use the OEX to identify bank accounts, real property, business interests, investment accounts, vehicles, and other assets that can be targeted for enforcement. Issue subpoenas to banks and employers in connection with the OEX.

Step 4: Execute Against Discovered Assets

Based on OEX findings, execute the appropriate enforcement actions: bank levy for liquid accounts, abstract of judgment recording for real property, income assignment for investment accounts, and business asset levy for self-employed obligors.

Step 5: Use Pressure Tools

Activate license suspension referral through DCSS, confirm passport denial certification, and file a contempt motion if the obligor has the ability to pay and is willfully refusing. Contempt proceedings in particular motivate payment from obligors who have successfully evaded other enforcement tools.

Step 6: Consider Modification

If circumstances have changed since the original order — income has increased, custody has shifted, new needs have arisen — file for modification to ensure the ongoing support amount reflects current reality. The Justice Foundation kit organizes every step of this sequence with the appropriate forms and instructions for each action.