What happens if I stop paying child support in California?

What the law says

Family Code section 291(a) makes a judgment for child support “enforceable until paid in full or otherwise satisfied.” Under Code of Civil Procedure section 685.020(b) and Family Code section 155, unless the judgment provides otherwise, interest starts on each missed installment on the date it was due, and section 685.010(a)(1) sets the rate: “interest accrues at the rate of 10 percent per annum on the principal amount of a money judgment remaining unsatisfied.”

Once payments are more than 30 days late, the parent owed support can file and serve a notice of delinquency, and under section 4722(b) support listed in it that stays unpaid 30 more days “shall incur a penalty of 6 percent of the delinquent payment for each month that it remains unpaid, up to a maximum of 72 percent of the unpaid balance due,” except as provided in section 4726 and subject to section 4727. Under section 4729, the local child support agency may not use these penalties.

Every support order includes an earnings assignment to your employer covering the support and any arrears (section 5230(a)). In a case handled by the local child support agency, section 17500(a) gives the agency “the responsibility for promptly and effectively collecting and enforcing child support obligations,” and under section 17520 a parent more than 30 days behind can be put on a list sent to licensing boards, including the Department of Motor Vehicles. A board can withhold issuing or renewing a license, giving a temporary license for 150 days in the meantime, and for a parent out of compliance for more than four months, the state can send a supplemental list on which a license can be suspended 150 days after notice. Under federal law, 42 U.S.C. section 652(k), the Secretary of State refuses to issue a passport to a parent a state agency has certified as owing child support arrears “in an amount exceeding $2,500.”

Contempt is another route: Code of Civil Procedure section 1218(a) allows a fine of up to $1,000, up to five days in jail, or both, and section 1218(c) sets community service, jail time, or probation for each count of contempt of a Family Code order.

• Family Code section 291 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Code of Civil Procedure section 685.020 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Family Code section 155 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Code of Civil Procedure section 685.010 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Family Code section 4722 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Family Code section 4729 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Family Code section 5230 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Family Code section 17500 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• Family Code section 17520 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• 42 U.S.C. section 652 (law.cornell.edu)
• Code of Civil Procedure section 1218 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)

What to do next

If you cannot pay because your income dropped, file a Request for Order to change support promptly: section 3651(c)(1) says an order may not be modified “as to an amount that accrued before the date of the filing of the notice of motion or order to show cause to modify or terminate.” In an agency case, section 17520(g) requires the agency to have review procedures, including help setting up a payment schedule on arrears where warranted.

• Family Code section 3651 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
• How do I change my child support in California, like if I lost my job?
• California child support guide
• Contempt and enforcement in California