California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation Even well-intentioned enforcement efforts go wrong when common mistakes are made. Understanding the errors that undermine child support collection — and avoiding them — is as important as knowing which tools to use. Mistake 1: Accepting Informal Payments Without Documentation Cash payments, Venmo transfers, and informal arrangements…

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California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation After covering the full range of California child support enforcement tools this month, it’s worth examining what distinguishes custodial parents who consistently collect from those who struggle — not because of different legal rights or better facts, but because of different approaches to the enforcement process. They…

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California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation The Justice Foundation Child Support Recovery Kit is designed to empower custodial parents to handle the vast majority of child support enforcement actions independently. But there are circumstances where professional legal representation is genuinely necessary — and knowing when to make that call protects your rights at…

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California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation California law does not automatically require parents to contribute to college expenses as part of child support — the basic support obligation ends when the child reaches the age of majority and completes high school. However, voluntary agreements for educational support can be enforceable as court orders,…

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California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation Federal benefit programs — from pandemic-era stimulus payments to ongoing programs like Social Security, unemployment insurance, and federal contractor payments — have varying levels of child support intercept availability. Understanding which federal payments are subject to intercept and how to ensure your case is positioned to capture…

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California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation Some delinquent parents respond to enforcement actions with threats: threats to file for custody modification, threats to take you to court, threats to report you to CPS, or general threats of legal action designed to intimidate you into backing off. Understanding how to respond to these threats…

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California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation When real property liens and bank levies haven’t produced full collection, California provides additional enforcement mechanisms targeting vehicles, personal property, and titled assets owned by the paying parent. Understanding these less commonly used tools can open collection opportunities that would otherwise be missed. Vehicle Liens Motor vehicles…

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California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation The Federal Parent Locator Service (FPLS) is a powerful location tool operated by the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement — and it’s available to you for free through California DCSS. The FPLS has access to federal databases that no private skip-tracing service can match: IRS records,…

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California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation We’re at the midpoint of June. If you’ve been following this month’s blog series, you now have a comprehensive understanding of the enforcement tools California law provides. This post converts that knowledge into a concrete action plan — the specific steps to take this month to advance…

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California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation When the paying parent remarries or has additional children, they sometimes seek a reduction in existing child support based on new family obligations. California law addresses these situations through a carefully balanced framework — new obligations can affect the support calculation, but they don’t automatically reduce what…

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