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Florida Supreme Court Approved Family Law Form 12.905(b ...

good afternoon this is Heather quick with the quick law group and I am talking to you today about contempt and enforcing your court orders and you know so often in our divorce cases we are representing women going through the process we end up going to court or you know settling and mediation and either way both parties agree to certain terms whether it's payment of alimony and child support certain things related to time sharing of the children and the only way to enforce it is go to court you do find binding agreements and also there are instances where you go to trial and the judge makes that decision for you he decides this is what we are going to with what you're going to pay is how much you know for your children and this is how we're going to divide the assets so many times we have women coming in asking well this is what the court said is supposed to do how do I enforce that and that is an issue we deal with a lot and so it's important to talk about that give you some tips on how we deal with that I'm just moving around a little bit I apologize so anyway I thought someone was coming in so let's talk about enforcement in contempt so usually the easiest ways for contempt are the court said or they agreed either way the judge finds it so you have a court order and that's the distinguishing factor because we need to look at what is what's going on that is required to do so let's say it is child support now many states have child support enforcement through the state and that is a route that is going to happen based on the state's timeline which is fine and it works really well for a lot of folks generally it takes awhile for the state to really try to enforce an action and you have to look every face different some things are very aggressive and it is very helpful to no men and women who are receiving child support alimony because the state's going to actively pursue that for them but floor is not one of those for one and so if you are receiving state aid then the state may actively pursue on your behalf as benefits if not you're going to have to do it on your own and seek some legal advice on the best way to do that so one things we look at is child support is very separate from alimony because child support really doesn't have to do with somebody need or ability to pay there's a court-ordered child support that has to do with their income and so when they're not paying their court-ordered child support there can be much stricter sanctions than other things that they may not be complying with so but so that's for one for child support now they can even if when a women comes to me we're going to look at well are they employed do they have a job because if so what we want to do is look at what can we garnish their wages can we somehow eliminate your ex-husbands the father's control of the payment just because that's going to make it easier for you it's going to go through the state it's going to automatically be deducted and really easier for him so that's number one we want to look at that is that an available remedy and but a lot of times it's not so in that instance we want to say okay well do they have money because as you know a judgment is worth the paper it's gone if we can't get the money from him we really need to evaluate that now in a lot of cases you you know may have you know you're separate now which is good you're no longer living together and you have you know been able to gain your strength to get that freedom but now are you going to be able to stand up to them and say you're not doing what you're to be doing that hasil is much to do with your emotional ability to make that decision which is really standing up to a bully as much as well are the finances there there's not you know what is the court did well if the money's there they're going to make them pay if we can show that there is some money there the courts can say you're going to go to jail if you don't pay this in the thirty days they're pretty serious about that I have seen I've seen it happen many times in my career as a family law attorney so that option is always available it's not going to happen the first time they're in contempt but of course then that depends sometimes on what judge you're in front of a lot of them have very little patience for that so you're going to see that and what they'll say is well if you know the defense is I had to pay my rent and I didn't pay my child support I can tell you that that husband or father is going to be looking at quite possibly jail time if they don't come up with the amount that they owe and begin to make steps forward and you know what we're talking about is just really what to do you have a court order how do I get in force sometimes I had a great case once and again it went into that evaluation so definitely when you're looking at enforcing we have to think about can we collect from this person and the mother knew that he was coming into money he was going to be selling a house and that he didn't have steady income but he had a twenty five thousand dollars in the reorders and she knew that the money was coming through this house and we were able to move quickly file the papers freeze the pursuit of the sale and she was paid now that was that was money she owes that's what it'll rear just four years he had not paid child support but we were very strategic and planning that and that that's the key with that you want to really strategically look at everything involved so we'll have a client come in on contempt and it's not a yes or no on that first day the main decision that the client need to make it I am ready emotionally mentally and financially to move forward I'm not going to still I'm not going to continue to be bullied in this way I'm not going to continue to allow father my children to shirk his responsibilities or to completely decide court orders judges do have the power to send people to jail men and women I mean I know we represent women I've seen many women go to jail in other cases for failing to meet their responsibilities and their court order obligations so it's such a you know courts have a lot of power and if you underestimate a judges power that's not a wise thing to do and that's why you need to seek legal counsel and look at okay I'm exciting I am going to move forward I know that it is time for me to stand up for my children and for myself frankly I came to an agreement we both compromise on things and this is what she's agreed to pay me and our children and he's not doing it because I will I tell this to most of my clients I'm going to tell it to you as well he doesn't think you will because look at the patterns of your relationship while you were married and how did how'd that go you know did you stand up for yourself did he bully you did he bili renege on promises or say I'm going to do something and then not or talk his way out of it so it's very unlikely that he thinks you are really going to go stand up for yourself and file contempt so that that's just a big issue on when you have a court or you have something you've agreed to and can you hold your husband accountable your ex-husband the father of your children accountable to what he's agreed to and the biggest thing is you know he if he's great to pay you alimony he's agreed to give you the proceeds from house and or the retirement like all of these things he's supposed to do we will get a judge to make them do it you just have to be willing to stand up for yourself and go for it and say you know what this is what I'm entitled to and I am willing both emotionally and intellectually ready to stand up for myself that I think has a lot to do with contempt and enforcement more so than it is the money of course I mean you need the money to pay the bills and groceries and buy your children things but it's also what you are entitled to and if your husband is going to do that or not so sorry I just had somebody stop in so I'm going to have to probably cut this one a little bit short today but the biggest thing is if you know somebody who has a court order has an ex-husband and father of their children and they have agreed in writing with a court signature so that's either through the divorce or temporary order whatever ordered it that is enforceable and they are maybe they're afraid they're like it doesn't matter you know that's the person that needs to reach out and say I need to come and find out how do I enforce this order how do I move forward with my life in hold this person accountable for what they agreed to or what a judge told them they needed to do you know the paper is only as good as your willingness to enforce it we do that a lot and you know once we once you make the decision that you're going to hold them accountable and move forward we can then go through the process and evaluate all that is necessary and if it makes sense financially to move forward frankly and how the best way it is to enforce different agreements property settlements are a little bit different than late monthly payment supports so we'd need to look at that and tell you okay this is the best way to enforce it and this is what we know we can get out of it for you because what I hate to see is women who go years are just yeah they stood up and they went neither got a settlement agreement got divorced have a judgment but now I just did some paper and your ex-husband walks away does nothing there's nothing that he agreed to nothing that a judge has signed off on that he is supposed to do you're going to have to stand up and take that initiative to enforce it and that's what we do for women all the time and it's like I said as much standing up for yourself do you not let him bully you anymore and refuse to take care of his obligations so you have any questions any comments we welcome those and you can always reach out to us to click law group comm thank you so much well I have to go I think I got cut short by somebody coming in the office but I will I will follow up on this video and certainly on any comment thank you all and have a great day