Category: Uncategorized

California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation California uses a mandatory statewide uniform guideline formula to calculate child support. The formula is not discretionary — courts are required to follow it in virtually all cases, and departures from guideline amounts require written findings of specific exceptional circumstances. Understanding how the formula works demystifies the…

California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation Child support is one of the most protected debts in the American legal system. Federal bankruptcy law specifically exempts child support obligations from discharge — meaning a parent cannot eliminate child support arrears through bankruptcy, regardless of which chapter they file. Understanding this protection ensures you don’t…

California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation A child support order set years ago may bear no relationship to current financial reality. Incomes change, custody arrangements shift, children develop new needs. California law provides a straightforward process for modifying child support when circumstances have materially changed — and knowing when and how to use…

California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation Federal law provides one of the most powerful pressure tools in the child support enforcement arsenal: passport denial and revocation for obligors owing more than $2,500 in arrears. If the paying parent needs a passport — for international travel, for work, for a planned trip — this…

California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation A bank levy is one of the fastest and most surprising enforcement tools available to a custodial parent owed arrears. Executed correctly, a bank levy freezes funds in the obligor’s account without advance warning — funds that can then be transferred to you after a brief objection…

California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation Self-employed obligors present the most common and most challenging income concealment problem in child support cases. Without a W-2 or pay stub, establishing actual income requires looking beyond what the paying parent chooses to report — into bank deposits, business revenue, lifestyle expenses, and the financial traces…

California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation If the parent who owes you child support owns real property in California — a home, a rental property, vacant land, a commercial building — that property is a collection target. A judgment lien recorded against that property must be satisfied before the property can be sold…

California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation Contempt of court is the most direct legal consequence for willful failure to pay court-ordered child support in California. A finding of contempt can result in fines, community service, probation, and jail time — up to five days per violation, with multiple violations chargeable consecutively. Understanding how…

California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation California’s Department of Child Support Services is a powerful ally with significant administrative enforcement authority — but it has real limitations. Understanding what DCSS can and cannot do on your behalf is essential to building a complete enforcement strategy that doesn’t leave money on the table. What…

California Child Support Recovery System | Justice Foundation Cryptocurrency has become a significant tool for income concealment in child support cases — and California courts and enforcement agencies are increasingly equipped to address it. If you believe the paying parent is earning, holding, or transacting in cryptocurrency, that income and those assets are fully subject…