How does back child support work in California, and how do I collect it?

What the law says

Family Code section 291(a) makes a judgment for child support “enforceable until paid in full or otherwise satisfied,” and section 291(b) makes it “exempt from any requirement that a judgment be renewed.” Under section 291(d), the paying parent may raise the defense of laches (unreasonable delay) “only with respect to any portion of the judgment that is owed to the state.” Code of Civil Procedure section 685.010(a)(1): “interest accrues at the rate of 10 percent per annum on the principal amount of a money judgment remaining unsatisfied.”

Under Family Code section 5100, a support order “may be enforced by a writ of execution or a notice of levy pursuant to Section 706.030 of the Code of Civil Procedure or Section 17522 of this code without prior court approval.” Every support order also includes an earnings assignment to the employer, covering current support and an amount toward any arrearage (section 5230(a)).

In a case with the local child support agency, section 17500(a) gives the agency “the responsibility for promptly and effectively collecting and enforcing child support obligations.” Under section 17524, when you apply you are asked for a statement of arrears, and in cases opened after 1995 the agency enforces only arrears you declared under penalty of perjury, arrears that build up after the case opens, or arrears the court has determined. The courts’ self-help page says the agency can take tax refunds, take money from bank accounts, put a lien on property, report to a credit agency, suspend a driver’s or professional license, and have a passport denied, and: “They can enforce a child support order in every state in the US and in many countries.” The license and passport tools have conditions. Under Family Code section 17520, a licensing board usually withholds issuing or renewing a license, with a 150-day temporary license in the meantime, and can suspend a license only for a parent on a supplemental list for being out of compliance more than four months. Under 42 U.S.C. section 652(k), a passport is refused when a state agency certifies arrears “in an amount exceeding $2,500.”

• Family Code section 291 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Code of Civil Procedure section 685.010 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Family Code section 5100 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Family Code section 5230 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Family Code section 17500 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Family Code section 17524 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Family Code section 17520 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• 42 U.S.C. section 652 (law.cornell.edu)
• California Courts self-help: how to collect child support

What to do next

If you do not use the agency, the self-help page says “your next step is often to ask the judge for an order that says exactly how much is owed in unpaid support.” It lists a Request for Order (form FL-300), with item 7 asking the judge to determine arrears and set an arrears payment, plus an Application to Determine Arrears (form FL-490), a Declaration of Payment History (form FL-420), and a Payment History Attachment (form FL-421). Keep your own record of every payment due and received. If you are the parent who owes, see what happens when payments stop.

• Form FL-490, Application to Determine Arrears, Rev. January 1, 2024 (PDF)
• Form FL-300, Request for Order
• What happens if I stop paying child support in California?
• Contempt and enforcement in California
• California child support guide