Enforce Child Support - Contempt of Court proceedings

Contempt of Court and Child Support

Child support is treated as an extremely important part of a divorce proceeding. Substantial time and effort goes into calculating the appropriate amount of payments and unlike other civil cases, the failure to pay child support can easily end in incarceration. If convinced that the ex spouse who is ordered to pay child support is deliberately not paying up, the court can initiate contempt of court proceedings against him or her.

In such cases, hiring an experienced Colorado Springs divorce attorney is extremely important. There are some mitigating factors that can be used to avoid the full force of the repurcussions, and only a competent lawyer will know how to make use of the facts to present your case in the proper light. The need is for a divorce lawyer specifically since the contempt isn't treated as a separate case, but becomes part and parcel of the original dissolution action.

Mitigating Factors

The Defense of Laches

The "doctrine of laches" can be applied in specific cases where the party who was to receive support payments didn't enforce those rights for a very long time and continued to support the child by himself or herself. In this case, the party is held to have "slept on their rights" and if the court judges that the doctrine applies, contempt of court proceedings can be forestalled.

However, this defense can only be used in the case of contempt proceedings, and not for recovering accrued child support payments.

Inability to pay

The court also recognizes that imprisonment or contempt proceedings cannot be sustained if the person who was supposed to make the payments absolutely could not make them at the time. There are various criteria for coming to this conclusion. The court will look at factors such as whether or not the defendant could sell any asset to raise the money or if he or she tried to borrow it. Only when completely convinced, will a judge allow the defence of incapacity to pay.

Hiring a Colorado Springs Divorce Attorney

A contempt of court proceeding to enforce child support is a very serious matter. Judges don't take kindly to perceived casualness towards legal obligations of this sort. Therefore, it's critical that you hire an experienced attorney. Our Clawson & Clawson lawyers are highly competent in this regard and will be able to provide you with the best legal advice possible. Contact us now for a free initial consultation.