Withholding From Support Payments

vcdd said:

I reside in California, and last year the court ordered my ex to reimburse me for some expenses that we were supposed to split as per court order. On top of that they also granted me reimbursement of back child support paid by retro-actively changing the child support order tyo remove my son who I had obtained custody of. The court documents stated that she was to pay me for these out of the proceeds of the sale of our house. However, she stopped paying for the house, it was foreclosed on, and just recently sold at auction. Since there are no proceeds from the house, and the court documents said the amountd would be due and payable if the proceeds were insufficient, I was advised to withhold what she owes me from her support payments. I currently pay around $800/mo, and she owes me a total of approximately $4K. Can I withhold the whole payment until the debt is satisfied or do I have to pay her at least part of it and withhold part of it from each payment?

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vcdd said:

It reads "The Court Further Orders, pursuant to the stipulation of the parties, that from the Petitioner's one-half of the sales proceeds of the real property, she shall reimburse the Repsondent a total of $3498.39, which is reimbursement for the children's medical bills through March 13, 2011; the excess support paid through January 2011; the homeowner's insurance; and the auto insurance. If the sales proceeds are insufficient to reimburse these expenses, they shall remain due and owed until paid in full."

There is also about $500 owing in back support because child support was paid on my son through 4/11 and the court made his ordered support $0 retro-actively back to 2/11, when the oroginal papers to change the support were filed with the court.

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vcdd said:

I was advised that I could withhold the back child support from the current support payments by my attorney that handled the original case. I thought that I could withhold the other money owed against the spousal support portion of the support payment I make each month. If I am mistaken I will absolutely rectify the situation, I am just trying to find the best way to collect this money from my ex. She doesn't have a job, she just lost the house we owned during our marriage to foreclosure, the only thing she really owns is a car because she just sold everything that was in the house in a yard sale (including all of my belongings that she wouldn't let me get from the house after I moved out). If I can't legally do what I did, any advice on what can be done?

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