July 2014 Archives

The payment of child support is a clear public policy of California. There is simply no safe harbor when the state DCSS seeks to collect child or spousal support arrears. Many of us in the family law field may have been misguided in thinking that individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and other pension plans are exempt from collection. This clearly was the father's contention when he sought an exemption and later moved for injunctive relief to quash the collection proceedings. Under Family Code 5103, the levy was proper. More importantly, regardless of whether the children are receiving public assistance or the support was assigned to the state, the IRA was subject to a levy for both child and spousal support arrearages.