You are angry and you want justice. You went through all the effort of getting an order from the court and now the other side is not following it. What do you do?
The process you want is called Enforcement and it is one of the most tricky areas of family law. The reason is, is that the process is often “quasi-criminal” in nature, and therefore the other side gets many, many protections. And because double jeopardy often applies (the legal principle that a person cannot be tried twice on the same crime), then if you screw the enforcement up, you will lose any right to try to enforce again.
A person found to be in contempt of court is subject to a find of up to $500.00 and jail time of not more than six months for each violation. Contempt is considered to be criminal in nature and the rules require specific and careful pleading, evidence, and orders. If you are seeking the enforcement of your order, you should only hire an attorney experienced in this area of law, and certainly should not try to do this on your own (pro se).
The pleadings , which should be filed in the court of continuing, exclusive jurisdiction, (Family Code 157.001(d)), must give notice of the provisions of the order sought to be enforced and must state the amount owed under the terms of the order, the amount paid and the amount of the arrearage (157.002). Attaching the pay record to the motion is evidence of the facts asserted in the payment record and is admissible to show whether payments were made (157.162).
It is important to remember that a finding of contempt by the court will require a detailed commitment order which includes the requirements in 157.166. The language in this statute is mandatory.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times- don’t go it alone. You need to get the help of an experienced family lawyer. If you can’t afford an attorney and are willing to go through more red tape you can request assistance from a government agency. Agency attorneys are often maligned because they are government. And while it is true that you will have to wait a much longer time and must sign forms in triplicate and jump through many hoops, the lawyers themselves are often very experienced and experts in this area of law.
If you are seeking enforcement of child support, you can contact your local Attorney General Office. If you are in Texas: (www.texasattorneygeneral.gov)
Many counties with large populations have a county agency called a Domestic Relations Office. Like the OAG, this county agency will also help enforce child support, but it they also help enforce orders on child visitation (called possession/access). These agencies are often more user friendly because they are smaller. If you are in Harris County, Texas: (www.dro.harriscountytx.gov) .
Sean Y. Palmer has been practicing law exclusively in the area of Family Law and Divorce for eighteen years. He lives in Kemah Texas with his Daughter and a Fish named Harvey.
