There is no single motion that erases the 10% annual interest on California child support arrears, but several routes can reduce or eliminate portions of it, and knowing how to get rid of child support interest in California starts with identifying who the debt is owed to. Arrears owed to the government can be compromised through the state’s Debt Reduction Program. Interest on arrears that accrued while you were incarcerated for more than 90 days can be zeroed out. Active-duty service members can cap the rate at 6%. And any dollar of principal you can prove shouldn’t be there takes its interest with it when it goes.
Under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 685.010, unpaid child support accrues interest at 10% per year.1Justia Law. California Code of Civil Procedure 685.010-685.110 It’s simple interest, not compound, calculated on the unpaid principal rather than on a growing total.2California Child Support Services. Arrears Calculator The rate is set by statute, so no local child support agency (LCSA) can waive it. What you can do is shrink the principal it runs against, cut off new interest going forward, or qualify for one of the narrow programs that reduces or suspends what has already accrued.
First, Find Out Who Your Arrears Are Owed To
This one distinction shapes almost every option below. If the custodial parent received cash aid, welfare, or foster care payments during periods you weren’t paying, the state paid support on your behalf and now holds that portion of your debt. Those are “assigned arrears.” If no public assistance was involved, the unpaid support is owed directly to the other parent — “unassigned” or “never-assigned” arrears.
The government has broad authority to negotiate away its own debt. The custodial parent’s share is much harder to reduce because it belongs to them, and courts protect it. Many parents owe a mix of both. Your LCSA can print a breakdown showing exactly how much of your balance falls in each bucket, and you should ask for that before pursuing any of the strategies below.
The Debt Reduction Program for Government-Owed Arrears
California’s Debt Reduction Program (formerly the Compromise of Arrears Program, or COAP) lets qualifying parents lower what they owe to the government, including the interest on that government-owed debt. It cannot touch arrears owed to the custodial parent.3California Child Support Services. Debt Reduction Program
To qualify, your children must have received cash aid or been in foster care during the period you weren’t paying court-ordered support. If they never received public assistance, there’s no government-owed debt to compromise and you’re not eligible.3California Child Support Services. Debt Reduction Program
If you have a current support order, you have to be paying it consistently while your application is pending. Missed current payments will get you denied. And if you reach an agreement and then stop making the reduced payments, the agreement gets canceled and the full original debt comes back.3California Child Support Services. Debt Reduction Program Start the application through your LCSA and bring detailed records of your income, expenses, and payment history.
Shrink the Principal and the Interest Shrinks with It
Since interest accrues on principal, every dollar of overstated principal is generating 10 cents of phantom interest each year. Correcting the balance is often the fastest way to knock down an interest total.
Application to Determine Arrears (FL-490)
The FL-490 form asks the court to officially calculate what you actually owe. It isn’t an interest-waiver tool on its own, but it’s where most successful interest reductions begin. You can use it to show you’ve already paid some or all of the support ordered, that your children lived with you full-time during a period you were still being charged, or that you were incarcerated for more than 90 consecutive days and couldn’t pay.4California Courts. FL-490 Application to Determine Arrears Reducing principal through a determination of arrears automatically reduces the interest that should have accrued on it.
Payment and Accounting Errors
Clerical mistakes, misallocated payments, and payments that were made but never credited happen more often than people expect. Keep records of every payment you make: bank statements, pay stubs showing wage garnishment, receipts from the State Disbursement Unit. If your history doesn’t match what the LCSA has on file, request a detailed account statement and compare it line by line. Federal regulations hold state child support data to a 95% reliability standard and specifically audit whether collections and disbursements are handled correctly.5Federal Register. Child Support Enforcement Program – Incentive Payments, Audit Penalties Mistakes do get made, and there are processes to fix them.
Custody and Income Changes That Were Never Filed
If you had physical custody of your children for a stretch but the order kept charging you, or if you had a real income drop and never filed for modification, those situations may warrant a court filing to determine the correct arrears amount.
Interest While You Were Incarcerated
California Family Code Section 4007.5 addresses a situation that used to trap thousands of parents. If you were involuntarily confined for more than 90 consecutive days in jail, prison, a juvenile detention facility, or a mental health institution, your child support obligation is suspended by operation of law for that period. Both the support and the interest that would have accrued during that qualifying period are set to zero.6California Legislative Information. California Family Code FAM 4007.5
If your LCSA kept charging support and interest during a qualifying period, the agency can administratively adjust your balance without a court hearing, provided it verifies the arrears accrued in violation of this section, confirms you didn’t have the means to pay, and neither you nor the other parent objects within 30 days of written notice.6California Legislative Information. California Family Code FAM 4007.5 If either party objects, the agency files a motion and the court decides. This is one of the few paths that genuinely eliminates interest rather than just reducing it.
The 6% Cap for Active-Duty Service Members
The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act caps interest at 6% per year on obligations incurred before entering military service, and interest above that rate is forgiven, not deferred.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S. Code 3937 – Maximum Rate of Interest on Debts Incurred Before Service For a California child support obligation that normally carries 10% interest, that’s almost half the rate.
To claim the cap, the service member gives the creditor (the LCSA or the custodial parent) written notice and a copy of military orders. The protection applies only to support obligations entered before the service member went on active duty. A court can lift the cap if it finds that ability to pay isn’t materially affected by military service.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 U.S. Code 3937 – Maximum Rate of Interest on Debts Incurred Before Service DCSS recognizes the cap and applies the 6% rate to qualifying cases.2California Child Support Services. Arrears Calculator
Laches on Very Old State-Owed Arrears
Laches is an equitable defense arguing that the other side waited so long to collect that enforcing the debt now would be fundamentally unfair. In California, laches can be raised against arrears owed to the state, but courts are far more reluctant to apply it to arrears owed to the custodial parent. The court examines whether the delay caused you genuine prejudice, such as losing the ability to pay while the state sat on the debt. This defense is fact-intensive and hard to win, but for very old state-owed arrears with no collection effort for many years, it’s worth raising with an attorney.
Modify the Order to Stop New Interest
You can’t reach back and reduce arrears that already accrued, but modifying your current support order stops new arrears — and new interest — from building. California allows modification when there’s been a meaningful change in finances or circumstances, such as job loss, disability, or a significant income change for either parent.8California Child Support Services. Changing A Support Amount
Modifications can be retroactive, but only to the date you filed the motion. Not earlier.9California Legislative Information. California Family Code 3653 If you lose your job in January but don’t file until June, five months of arrears at the old amount are locked in, along with 10% interest running on them indefinitely. File as soon as your circumstances change. Every month of delay adds principal that keeps generating interest.
Where the modification is due to unemployment, the court generally makes it retroactive to the later of the filing date or the date you became unemployed. For military activation and deployment out of state, it can be retroactive to the activation date.9California Legislative Information. California Family Code 3653
What a Payment Plan Does and Doesn’t Do
Your LCSA cannot waive the 10% rate, and interest keeps accruing on the unpaid balance during any payment plan. What a payment plan does is stop new enforcement actions and demonstrate good faith, which matters if you later petition the court for relief. The practical goal is paying down principal aggressively so there’s less balance for interest to run on. Come to your LCSA with a realistic proposal and financial documentation rather than waiting to be pulled in through enforcement. If part of your balance is government-owed, that conversation is also the natural moment to ask about the Debt Reduction Program.
Bankruptcy and Taxes Won’t Help
Two options people ask about aren’t actually options. Child support debt cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. Federal law under 11 U.S.C. Section 523 exempts domestic support obligations from discharge in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13, and that exemption covers interest on those obligations, not just the principal.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 523 – Exceptions to Discharge Filing bankruptcy may free up cash to pay support by clearing other debts, but the support itself survives.
Child support payments are also not tax-deductible for the paying parent and not taxable income for the receiving parent.11Internal Revenue Service. Alimony, Child Support, Court Awards, Damages The interest portion of your arrears is treated the same way. You can’t deduct it.
California has no statute of limitations on child support arrears.12California Child Support Services. Frequently Asked Questions The 10% keeps running until the balance is paid or reduced through one of the routes above, so the earlier you act on whichever route fits your situation, the less interest you’ll owe.