Contempt to Enforce Compliance with a Florida Final Divorce Decree

The failure of a party to comply with the court’s orders may result in sanctions by the court including attorney fee awards and be punishable via contempt.

When a party does not comply with a court order in a divorce proceeding, the court may sanction the non-compliant party. One remedy to deal with a non-compliant ex-spouse is to have your Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyer file a Motion for Contempt. Contempt can either be treated as a criminal or civil action. A criminal action for contempt may actually result in incarceration. The court will typically order attachment or garnishment in order to satisfy the support orders including unpaid arrearages.

Wage attachments or garnishments are often part of the initial divorce decree or interim support order but may become ineffective if the party obligated to pay support changes employment or becomes self-employed. A court to ensure compliance with the court’s support orders may use a new wage assignment. The court typically will also award attorney’s fees if you are forced to file for contempt and return to court to obtain compliance with the court’s orders.

Before filing for contempt, you should send a certified letter to the other party requesting compliance with the court’s order and providing a reasonable time to comply, such as 10-15 days. Many Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyers offer this as a separate service to protect your legal rights. It also is a good idea to indicate in the letter that if you are forced to return to court to obtain compliance that you will seek reasonable attorney’s fees. This will make your case for attorney’s fee stronger if you must return to court to obtain compliance.

Another area where a party often fails to comply with the court’s orders concerning the minor children is violation of the time-sharing arrangement in the parenting plan. Violation of a court-ordered time-sharing schedule may result in severe sanctions including contempt of court, attorneys fee awards and even a change of custody in extreme cases. For example, if a parent removes the child from the state for the purposes of avoiding the court’s approval, creation, or modification, the court may approve, grant, or modify a parenting plan as a direct consequence, such that the modifications made will ultimately reflect the best interests of the child. This means that a parent who flouts the court’s orders in a parenting plan risks having their custody or visitation arrangements adversely affected.
While many times a simply letter is all that is needed, the court recognizes that it is unfair to subject a person to unnecessary attorney’s fees because the other party is unwilling to comply with the court’s orders. This is why an award for attorney’s fees is usually appropriate if you are forced to file for contempt to obtain compliance with the court’s orders. A Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyer from our law firm can represent a client throughout Fort Lauderdale and throughout Florida when they are facing challenges obtaining what they have been granted by court order in a divorce or other family law matter.

We know it can be stressful when the other party refuses to comply with child custody arrangements or support obligations so call the Fort Lauderdale divorce lawyers of Eric N. Klein & Associates, P.A. today at 1-954-580-8080.