Ask the judge to set aside a judgment or order for support
To ask the judge to set aside a default judgment or an order for support, you will need to fill out and file forms with the court. You'll need to explain why the judge should set aside the support judgment or order under Family Code section 3691.
How to ask the judge to set aside a judgment or order
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Fill out forms
Fill out the Request for Hearing and Application to Set Aside Support Order (form FL-360)
- For help with item 3, you can find out more about the reasons in Legal reasons to set aside an order.
You will need to complete item 5 on page 2, “Facts to Support". If you need more space to explain what happened, you can use Declaration (form MC-030). Title the Declaration "Attachment to Item 5".
The Petitioner is the person who started the family law case initially. The Respondent is the other spouse or parent. For example, if you are filing this Request for Hearing but the other person was the one who started the case at the very beginning, you are the Respondent. If the party who started the case is the Department of Child Support Services, you may be the Respondent or the Other Parent. Look at your paperwork. -
Include a proposed response
If you are asking to set aside a default judgment or an order where you never filed a response, you should include a proposed response. If the judge decides to set aside the judgment or order, then the judge will order that your proposed response becomes the official response (it gets filed).
For example, if you are asking to set aside a child support judgment in a case started by the Department of Child Support Services, you would fill out and attach an Answer to Complaint or Supplemental Complaint Regarding Parental Obligations (form FL-610).
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Make copies and file your request
Make at least 2 copies of everything. The original is for the court. The copies are for you and the other side. If the Local Child Support Agency is part of your case, you will need to make a copy for them.
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File your forms
To file your forms with the court:
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Give the original and the 2 copies to the court clerk
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Pay a $60 fee (unless you’ve gotten a fee waiver). If this case was started by the Department of Child Support Services, or they're involved, you may not have to pay a fee.
There may be other fees. If you can't afford the fee, you can ask for a fee waiver.
Fee waivers expire at the end of the case (when a judgment is filed). You will need to ask for another one if your last one expired.The clerk will:
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Stamp the forms
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Write a hearing date on the Request form
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Keep the original form and return the copies to you
Yes, you can file by mail. Mail your original and at least 2 copies to the clerk. You need to include the filing fee and a self-addressed stamped envelope so the clerk can mail your copies back to you. If you do not include a self-addressed, stamped envelope you will have to go to the courthouse to pick up your copies.
Some courts allow online filing (called e-filing). You can find out if your court has online filing by visiting your court’s website.
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Set aside a family law order or judgment
What's next?
After you file the forms, your next step is to serve your spouse or child's other parent. And if the Department of Child Support Services is involved, you have to serve the too.
Before or after you served the papers, you can start to prepare for your court date.