What is contempt of court. In laymen terms it simply means that the judge signed an order and one of the parties is not complying with the judges order.
in divorce cases, this can be a temporary order or permanent order. Lets talk about how to file a motion for contempt when one of the spouses does not comply with the final judgment in the divorce.
I recently helped a client do exactly this. Let me give you a little background. The divorce was finalized more than 2 years ago. This was a stipulated agreements (both parties agreed at the time) to everything in the order. The Judge's signature only made if official.
The orders in the judgment covered everything regarding the disposition of assets and debts as well as orders pertaining to their children such as child support, etc.
In this case the spouse ordered to pay spousal support had not done so for quite some time and our client was left helpless not knowing what to do.
Prior to hiring our company to file for contempt, he wanted to first try it on his own. So he went to the self help center in downtown LA's Central court. He explained what was happening and they said he needed to file an Order To Show Cause and Affidavit for Contempt.
They gave him the form, he filled it out, signed it and filed it with the court. The problem is that there is much more to do than just filling out the application. He had missed providing all the other attachments and proof of missed payments and a declaration stating the facts and why his spouse is in contempt.
If you are going to file an affidavit for contempt on your divorce, make sure to fill out the correct forms, check the correct boxes and follow the instructions. You can find many of the instructions online, but it can be a little tricky. Especially making sure that you list each and every missed payment as each one counts as a contempt charge.