Neal

Herman and Judith Neal got divorced in 1996; the judgment required Herman to pay Judith $25,000—about $21,000 to equalize the division of community property plus another $4,000 for child support arrears. Herman was to pay $15,000 of the amount immediately, and give Judith a promissory note for the balance, secured by a trust deed encumbering Herman’s interest in the family residence. Additionally, Herman was ordered to pay about $2,500 a month as child support for the couple’s three minor children, and another $750 in spousal support for a limited duration.

Herman apparently never paid any of the roughly $10,000 he owed under the note. By March 1999, Judith, strapped for funds, sold the note to a collection agency for some $5,500. She also went to the district attorney to help her collect support arrearages which, she now alleges, exceeded $18,000.

Herman filed an order to show cause (OSC) to reduce his child support in September 1999; the OSC was heard on January 26, 2000, and resulted in this stipulation: Herman would pay Judith $11,500 as an accord and satisfaction. In return, Judith agreed to close her case with the district attorney and extinguish a wage assignment…