Child Support: Requests to Set Aside (Cancel) an Order

Note: Your court’s family law facilitator or self-help center helps with child support cases. They may be able to help you with a request for order to set aside a child support order, but if not, they can probably still give you information to help you understand your options.

Legal reasons to ask the court to cancel a child support court order:

  • Request for order to set aside in child support cases under Family Code section 3691 (a) and (b)—For cases where there has been:
    • Actual fraud: where one party was kept from having information or from participating in the case through fraud. You must file the request for order to set aside within 6 months after you discovered, or should have discovered, the fraud.
    • Perjury: where one party committed perjury (made a false statement in the case on purpose while under oath). You must file the request for order to set aside within 6 months after you discovered, or should have discovered, the perjury by the other side.
    • You must be able to show that if the judge had considered your response and your financial information, the court order would have been different. If the order would have been pretty close to the same, the judge may not grant your request.
    • Click to learn how to request an order to set aside under Family Code section 3691. Click to learn how to respond to a request for an order to set aside under Family Code section 3691.

  • Request for order to set aside a child support order under Family Code section 3691(c), based on lack of notice.
    • If you did not receive notice of (did not find out about) the support case in time to file a response and a default judgment was entered against you, you can file a request for order to set aside the default judgment. You must file this request within a reasonable time, but no later than 6 months after you get notice or find out, or should have reasonably found out, that there is a support order or that your income or other property is going to be taken to pay for the support.
    • If the summons asking for an order for support was served on you according to the law, you cannot use this law to ask for a set aside, even if you claim you did not receive actual notice of the case. Talk to your court’s family law facilitator to find out if you were served correctly.
    • If you file a request for order to set aside, you must explain to the judge that the fact you did not receive notice of the support request was NOT due to your own avoidance of service or inexcusable neglect.
    • You must be able to show that if the judge had considered your response and your financial information, the court order would have been different. If the order would have been pretty close to the same, the judge may not grant your request.
    • Click to learn how to request an order to set aside under Family Code section 3691. Click to learn how to respond to a request for an order to set aside under Family Code section 3691.

  • Request for order to set aside a default judgment for child support based on presumed income, under Family Code section 17432.
    • If the Department of Child Support Services (through your Local Child Support Agency (LCSA)) got a default judgment against you for child support, and the child support amount was based on “presumed income” and not on your real income, you may have some extra time to ask the judge to set aside or cancel that judgment and recalculate how much your child support should be.
    • To find out if the child support amount in your case was based on presumed income, look at the Judgment Regarding Parental Obligations (Form FL-630) you received. Look to see if Item 3, on page 1, is checked. If so, your judgment was based on presumed income.
    • Click for information on presumed income orders and how to ask to cancel an order based on presumed income.