MANY father’s end up owing child support to the Los Angeles County Department of Child Support Services as a result of the Custodial mother’s actions. Usually, the Custodial mother received welfare benefits from the County for the benefit of the children in which case the County has the right to seek reimbursement from the non-custodial father in the form of child support. In other cases, the custodial mother simply requests the County to enforce the child support obligation against the father. In many cases, the father does not show up in court after receiving a notice from the County end up being defaulted by the County. By the time they realize their obligation, they are in arrears in the thousands of dollars with their driver’s license suspended.
This scenario can be very frustrating for the father when it affects their ability to earn a living. There are many options available to the father to modify the child support obligation. In default judgment cases, the County usually bases its calculation of guideline child support on what the mother reports as the father’s income. This may very well be higher than what the father actually earns. If this is the case, the father may file an OSC/ motion to modify child support based on his actual earnings. Father must be ready to produce evidence of his actual earnings.
In contested cases, the noncustodial father may modify the child support either by showing changed circumstances or by modifying the custody/visitation arrangement. A classic example of modification based on changed circumstance would be if the non custodial father gets laid off from his employment. If he has been trying to get a job but is having difficulty, he may ask for a downward modification of his child support obligation. Another example is if he becomes disabled and is unable to earn as much as he used to. The father has the burden to prove changed circumstances in court.
Another way the non-custodial father may modify his child support obligation is to obtain some visitation of the child. This may be done through a custody petition in Superior Court in which case a new child support order may be obtained. In these cases, the County usually joins in the case to protect their interest. However, the father would have to show a sincere effort to want to visit his child and not simply for purposes of lowering his child support obligation.
What can be done with the child support arrears? The father could request an audit of his account. It is possible that the County has committed errors in calculating and accounting for child support arrears. We have seen situations in our practice where the County was off by thousands of dollars. This error is further amplified when you take into consideration the interest that the County charges on the arrears which is a compounded 10%. There are other ways such as requesting Jackson credits in situation where the child was actually in the physical custody of the father during a period for which the father has been charged child support. If you are in this situation, the worst thing to do is to ignore it. You should seek the representation of experienced counsel.
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Atty. Kenneth Ursua Reyes was President of the Philippine American Bar Association. He is a member of both the Family law section and Immigration law section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He has extensive CPA experience prior to law practice. LAW OFFICES OF KENNETH REYES, P.C. is located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA, 90010. Tel. (213) 388-1611 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Visit website Kenreyeslaw.com.
( Published on January 9, 2009 in Asian Journal Orange County p. A7 )
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