County of Napa v. Combs

[1079]

Opinion

STEIN, J.

The County of Napa (County), for itself and on behalf of Jennifer Combs, appeals from a judgment in the County’s action against her father, David Joseph Combs (Combs), for child support and reimbursement of welfare funds.

Jennifer had been placed in a foster home, pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 300, and a grant from the “Aid to Families with Dependent Children” program (AFDC) funded that placement. The County requested reimbursement pursuant to Welfare and Institutions Code section 11350

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for the AFDC funds expended between August 24, 1985, and October 31, 1987, as a result of Jennifer’s placement in foster care. After the death of Jennifer’s mother, the County received Social Security survivor benefits from May 1986 through October 1987.

The court found that Combs’s liability for his daughter’s support while she was in foster care was the statutory minimum under Civil Code section 4720. The court further found that Combs was entitled to a credit toward his child support obligation for the Social Security survivor benefits the County had received. Since the amount the County received from the Social Security survivor benefits exceeded Combs’s monthly support liability, the trial court entered judgment in favor of the County for reimbursement only for the period Jennifer was in foster care prior to the receipt of those benefits.

The County appeals from that portion of the judgment which credits Combs with the Social Security payments. We will reverse the judgment.

The trial court ruled that Civil Code section 4705 and

In re Marriage of Denney

(1981) 115 Cal.App.3d 543 [171 Cal.Rptr. 440] require that Combs be given credit for the Social Security survivor benefits the County received against the amount of support he has been ordered to pay. Civil Code section 4705 provides: “In any case in which the court has ordered a noncustodial parent to pay for the support, maintenance, and education of a child, payments for the support of such child made by the federal government pursuant to the Social Security Act or Railroad Retirement Act because of the retirement or disability of the noncustodial parent and transmitted to the custodial parent each month shall be credited toward the amount ordered by the court to be paid for that month by the noncustodial