In order to be effective enforcing child and spousal support orders you must have a child support obligor who has the ability to pay, and you must have the leverage to compel payment (i.e., an enforcement remedy that leaves the obligor with serious consequences if he continues to refuse to pay). If you do not have leverage to compel payment of support, you will not likely succeed in your collection efforts.
In addition to having leverage, you must have the legal knowledge, expertise, experience, and tenacity to stay with it. Collections do not come easy, particularly when you are taking money from a person against his will and giving it to his former spouse.
Many custodial parents try to enforce their own support orders, often making matters worse for the attorney who may be hired at the end. If you do not litigate a civil contempt matter correctly, you may lose that remedy because the obligor cannot be tried again for the same time period in which he was found “not guilty.” Please consult with our office before attempting to enforce your own order.
If you’ve found that DCSS is not giving your case the attention it deserves (resulting in collections), then “free” services are of no value. It is better to hire an experienced child support attorney on a contingency basis if you want results. This is particularly true now that the Family Code requires the obligor pay a portion of the cost of private child support enforcement.
Serving Orange County, San Diego County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, Los Angeles County, and Ventura County. We enforce California child support orders and spousal support orders anywhere in California, and in many cases, nationwide, under the the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA).
