Marr. of Wilson

I. BACKGROUND

A. Prior Proceedings Father married Mother in 1978. Minor was born in 1979. In 1981, Mother filed a petition for dissolution of the marriage. Father’s default was entered, and an interlocutory judgment of dissolution was entered later that year.1 The family court granted custody of Minor to Mother and ordered Father to pay $200 per month in child support. A final judgment of dissolution was entered in 1984. In 1985, the Alameda County District Attorney filed a declaration alleging that Father owed $7,550 in unpaid child support. Father appeared, in person and with counsel, at a June 10, 1985 hearing at which, by stipulation, the family court ordered him to make payments of $200 per month through withholdings from his wages. After an evidentiary hearing in July 1985, at which Father was again present and represented by counsel, the family court adjudged him $7,006.19 in child support arrears from November 1981 through June 1985 and ordered him to pay $100 per month in arrears, to be withheld from his wages. In 1987, Father sought to have the child support payments made to Grandparents during the time they cared for Minor full-time. By stipulation, the parties…