Child Custody and Visitation Attorney in Hingham, Massachusetts
What happens in a contempt case involving child custody or financial orders?
What happens in a contempt case involving child custody or financial orders?
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So contempt is something that we see a lot. When you have a court order, you need to follow it, and when somebody doesn’t follow it, especially when they specifically, purposefully don’t follow it, it becomes a problem. Part of our job as attorneys is to enforce court orders, so the prime example is you have a parent who’s ordered to pay child support and they don’t pay it. They have the ability to pay it, but they’re not paying it.
That is a perfect example of a contempt, or you have an alimony support order that is not being paid. You can also have contempt where a – you have a parenting schedule and that’s not being followed, not by agreement of the parties. The only way to enforce these is to file a contempt with the court. To be successful in a contempt order, you need to have a clear order, and somebody disobeying that, and so another part of our job as attorneys is to make sure you have a clear court order.
Hingham, MA family law attorney Nicole Levy talks about how she can help clients dealing with a contempt case. She notes that contempt is a common issue in family law. When a court order exists, it must be followed, and problems arise when someone deliberately disregards it. Part of an attorney’s role is to enforce these orders. A prime example is a parent who is ordered to pay child support and has the ability to do so but fails to make payments—this is a clear case of contempt. Similarly, nonpayment of alimony or failure to follow a parenting schedule without mutual agreement can also constitute contempt. The only way to enforce these obligations is by filing a contempt action with the court. To succeed, it is essential to have a clear court order, so another key part of an attorney’s job is ensuring that the order is explicit and enforceable.
