Falling behind on child support in California is frightening, especially once interest starts stacking up. Clients constantly ask whether the arrears can be wiped out or reduced. Some options exist — but the most common hope, erasing past-due support outright, runs into a hard legal wall.
Why arrears cannot be retroactively modified
The wall is Family Code section 3651(c): a court cannot retroactively modify or cancel child support that has already accrued. Each past-due installment becomes a vested money judgment the moment it is missed. So a modification — even a justified one, based on job loss or a changed income — only operates from the date you filed the request forward. It does nothing about the child support arrears that piled up before you filed. This is why acting immediately when your income drops is critical: every month you wait is a month of support that can never be reduced.
Interest on arrears
California charges mandatory interest on unpaid child support at the legal rate of 10 percent per year, and the court has no discretion to waive it. On large balances, interest alone can rival the underlying principal. Interest accrues automatically, which is another reason arrears grow so fast and why a “motion to dismiss” arrears usually cannot succeed against a correctly calculated balance.
What can actually be done
There are legitimate paths. First, you can challenge the accounting — arrears balances are frequently wrong, and a court can correct math errors, credit payments that were not recorded, or find that support should not have accrued for a period (for example, while the child lived with you). Second, arrears owed to the other parent (not to the state) can be compromised by written agreement between the parents, which the court can then approve. Third, where arrears are owed to the government because public assistance was paid, California’s Compromise of Arrears Program (COAP) may allow a negotiated reduction of the state-owed portion for qualifying obligors. What you generally cannot do is have validly accrued arrears simply dismissed.
Do not ignore it
Unpaid support can trigger wage garnishment, license suspension, tax-refund interception, and contempt — and child support arrears are not dischargeable in bankruptcy. The worst strategy is avoidance. The right one is to move quickly: file any modification now to stop future arrears, audit the balance for errors, and pursue the compromise avenues that actually exist.
Talk to Furubotten Law
Every page on this site ends the same way it began: with a real lawyer. If you are navigating any of the issues discussed above, Denise Furubotten, Esq. brings 30 years of California family law experience to your matter. Call Furubotten Law, APC at (714) 795-3862 to schedule a confidential evaluation.