California Family Code 17432 v2 – (a) In any action filed by the local child support agency …
(a) In any action filed by the local child support agency pursuant to Section 17400, 17402, 17404, or 17404.1, the court may, on any terms that may be just, set aside that part of the judgment or order concerning the amount of child support to be paid. This relief may be granted after the six-month time limit of Section 473 of the Code of Civil Procedure has elapsed, based on the grounds, and within the time limits, specified in this section.
(b) This section shall apply only to judgments or orders for support that were based upon presumed income or earning capacity and that were entered after the entry of the default of the support obligor as specified in Sections 17400, 17404.1, and 17430 or any predecessors of those sections in the Family Code or the Welfare and Institutions Code. This section shall apply only to the amount of support ordered and not that portion of the judgment or order concerning the determination of parentage or the obligation of medical support or health insurance.
Terms Used In California Family Code 17432 v2
- Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Income and expense declaration: means the form for an income and expense declaration in family law matters adopted by the Judicial Council. See California Family Code 95
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- obligor: means a person owing a duty of support. See California Family Code 17212
- order: include a decree, as appropriate under the circumstances. See California Family Code 100
- Support: refers to a support obligation owing on behalf of a child, spouse, or family, or an amount owing pursuant to Section 17402. See California Family Code 150
- Support order: means a judgment or order of support in favor of an obligee, whether temporary or final, or subject to modification, termination, or remission, regardless of the kind of action or proceeding in which it is entered. See California Family Code 155
(c) (1) The court may set aside the child support order contained in a judgment described in subdivision (b) if the support obligor’s income or earning capacity was substantially different for the period of time during which judgment was effective compared with the income or earning capacity the support obligor was presumed to have.
(2) For purposes of this section, “substantially different” means that amount of income that would result in an order for support that deviates from the order entered by default by 10 percent or more.
(d) The court, in its discretion, may set aside and reinstate child support for all or partial relevant periods of time depending on the income or earning capacity information available at the time the motion is filed. Relief setting aside the child support order for less than the full period of time that the judgment was effective shall not preclude a subsequent review within the timeframe provided pursuant to subdivision (g).
(e) Application for relief under this section shall be filed together with an income and expense declaration or simplified financial statement or other information concerning income or earning capacity for any relevant years. The Judicial Council may combine the application for relief under this section and the proposed answer into a single form.
(f) The party seeking to set aside the order has the burden of proving that the actual income or earning capacity of the support obligor was substantially different from the presumed income or earning capacity.
(g) (1) A party to the action described in subdivision (a), including the local child support agency, may file a motion for relief pursuant to this section within two years of the local child support agency’s first collection of money through an earnings assignment order or an order or notice to withhold income for child support. The two-year time period shall run from the date that the local child support agency receives the first collection of money from one of the sources listed in this subdivision. Immediately upon receipt of the first collection of money from an earnings assignment order or order or notice to withhold income for child support, the local child support agency shall notify the support obligor and the support obligee in writing of the first collection, including the source of the collection, and the commencement of the two-year time period to file a motion for relief under this section.
(2) This subdivision does not prohibit any party to the action, including the local child support agency, from filing a motion for relief under this section prior to the commencement of the two-year time period.
(h) Within three months from the date the local child support agency receives the first collection for an order established using presumed income or earning capacity when the order was entered by default, the local child support agency shall check all appropriate sources for income information, and, if income information exists, the local child support agency shall determine whether the order qualifies for set aside under this section. If the order qualifies for set aside, the local child support agency shall bring a motion for relief under this section. When a party to the action, including the local child support agency, has taken subsequent legal action to modify the support prospectively, but did not address a possible set aside under this section, the subsequent modification shall not preclude the filing of a potential set aside at a later date.
(i) In all proceedings under this section, before granting relief, the court shall consider the amount of time that has passed since the entry of the order, the circumstances surrounding the support obligor’s default, the relative hardship on the child or children to whom the duty of support is owed, the caretaker parent, and the support obligor, and other equitable factors that the court deems appropriate.
(j) If the court grants the relief requested, the court shall issue a new child support order using the appropriate child support guidelines currently in effect. The new order shall have the same commencement date as the order set aside.
(k) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2026.
(Repealed (in Sec. 20) and added by Stats. 2023, Ch. 213, Sec. 21. (SB 343) Effective January 1, 2024. Operative January 1, 2026, by its own provisions.)