Claudia Ribet and Robert Roth won a published decision in the California Court of Appeal’s Second District concerning hundreds of thousands of dollars of unpaid child support.
The case centered on an agreement by a deadbeat father who had fled the country decades ago to avoid paying support for his three children. Looking to return to the United States, he agreed to pay a negotiated, reduced amount of the back child support. The trial court found, however, that even though the children had reached the age of majority, California law categorically prohibits private settlement of unpaid child support in a way that reduces the total amount owed.
The Court of Appeal affirmed. In a published opinion, the court explained that California public policy prohibits parents from negotiating, compromising, forgiving, or otherwise settling child support orders fixed by a court, even when the children reached majority and the orders are in the past. Child support is for the benefit of the children, not the parents. Allowing the parents to agree to reduce back child support, the Court reasoned, even long after the children had grown, would reward a parent who wrongly refused to pay child support for years and incentivize avoiding payment to force a settlement.
You can read the decision in In re: Marriage of Allen by clicking here.