child support ?

[mishelle2]

Soc,

 Can you tell me, if I add my fiance to my checking account and he owes  arrears on child support  but has been paying current, will my checking account be garnished? State: CA

thanks
mishele

[socrateaser]

>Soc,
>
> Can you tell me, if I add my fiance to my checking account
>and he owes  arrears on child support  but has been paying
>current, will my checking account be garnished? State: CA

Well, if this were an "ordinary" debt, like a creditor judgment on a loan default, then my answer would be "no," because the Sheriff is not likely to execute against an account that is not in the debtor's sole name, unless there's an express order from a court identifying the account as subject to garnishment.

However, where child support is concerned, due process of law tends to get very murky sometimes, and some administrative officer of the Dept. of Child Support Services could quite easily issue an order instructing a bank to debit a commingled account in favor of the State. So, as a practical matter, commingling your funds with a child support obligor is a VERY BAD IDEA, because the State will try to take your money, and then you'll have to prove to a court that you can trace the money taken back to your separate property. If this were a sofa, it would be easily distinguished by a receipt in your name. But, money is all green and has pictures of dead presidents, so it's frequently impossible to separate your money from someone else's, after it's deposited in the same bank account.

What I would suggest is that you open a new joint checking account and only deposit enough money into that account to cover bills coming due in the short term. That way, if the State starts searching your undies, they can only reach a small amount at any given time.

Once you're married, CA. law specifically provides that where a spouse deposits his/her earnings into a separate bank account over which the other spouse has no right of withdrawal, that bank account cannot be reached by any creditor, and I strongly suggest that you take advantage of this law, so as to protect the majority of your money, until such time as your spouse's child support obligation is completely satisfied.