In re Marriage of Cordero

In In re Marriage of Cordero (2002) 95 Cal.App.4th 653, Division Three of the district discussed at some length the onerous effects of the 10 percent legal rate of interest particularly in the context of child and spousal support orders. (In re Marriage of Cordero, supra, 95 Cal.App.4th at pages 657-665.) The court took note of the fact that, since the early 1990s, market interest rates have been less than 2 percent and "for some folks . . . large nondischargeable support orders inflated by a 10 percent legal interest rate are the closest thing modern law has to indentured servitude. The result can be simply too Dickensian to bear." (In re Marriage of Cordero, supra, 95 Cal.App.4th at pages 659-660.) Despite these concerns, the Cordero court ultimately held a payor spouse could not be relieved of the obligation to pay accrued interest on overdue spousal support payments.