In Re the Marriage of Orchard

Opinion

KING, J.

In this case we hold that recording a certified copy of an order that child support payable under an attached judgment incorporated by reference shall be payable to the district attorney, creates a valid lien against the community real property of the obligor parent and his present spouse.

I.

Facts.

The real property that is the subject of this proceeding consists of approximately six acres of unimproved land in El Dorado County which was purchased by Judy and Joel Orchard on May 8, 1987, for $25,000. The couple paid $19,000 down and financed the $6,000 balance. They took title as husband and wife, and all purchase offers, counteroffers, financing transactions, and title documents were executed jointly in their names. On May 20, 1987, a certified copy of a document entitled “Motion and Order to Make Child Support Payments Payable to San Mateo County and That the District Attorney Enforce Said Support Order” was recorded in the official records of El Dorado County. Joel was the named respondent in the motion and order. This document stated that by a judgment attached thereto and incorporated by reference filed August 6, 1980, Joel was ordered to make support payments of $150 per month for his minor child. He had paid nothing for over six years, and Danielle Jo Orchard, Joel’s former wife, had enlisted the aid of the Office of the District Attorney in San Mateo County to collect the overdue child support. (Civ. Code, § 4702, subd. (b).) On the basis of recording this certified copy of the original document, the district attorney claimed a judgment lien on the subject real property and sought to enforce the judgment through a sheriff’s sale of the property.

On October 15, 1987, after the order was recorded, Joel quitclaimed any interest he might have in the subject property to his wife Judy. Thereafter, Judy filed a quiet title action in the El Dorado County Superior Court, naming Joel’s former wife, Danielle, as defendant. On August 16, 1988, the San Mateo County Superior Court issued a writ of execution on the real

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property for the unsatisfied child support arrearage of $14,231.86. In September 1988, the Sheriff of El Dorado County served notice that sale of the real property was scheduled for February 14, 1989.