Is a defendant in a paternity action entitled to free counsel?

I am aware that in Ford v. Herndon (1976) 62 Cal.App.3d 492, 133 Cal.Rptr. 111, the Third District ruled, possibly in dictum, that an allegedly indigent defendant in a paternity action is not entitled to free counsel. (62 Cal.App.3d pp. 498-499, 133 Cal.Rptr. 111.) The issue appears to have been raised off-handedly: The chief issue was whether the trial court had abused its discretion in denying the defendant's motion to set aside a default judgment, and the court, in responding to the defendant's contention that he was entitled to appointment of counsel, stated that "nothing in the record indicates that defendant is an indigent, and we must presume that the trial court found he was not." (Id., p. 498, 133 Cal.Rptr. p. 114.) In this consolidated appeal, defendants' right to counsel is the only issue raised, and we have been aided by a

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