Contempt of Court
Finding a Good Orange County Family Law Attorney
Contempt of Court is the willful disregard of the authority of the court. A court may hold a party or attorney in contempt of court for a flagrant disregard and defiance to the legal process. The court will then typically order the party held in contempt and the party will either have to pay a fine or submit to jail time, or both.
Most family law orders and judgments are enforceable by contempt hearings. Thus if a party fails to abide by the terms of their dissolution of marriage judgment or child custody and visitation orders, they will be held in contempt of court. As stated above, the typical sanction imposed against them will be monetary fines, however the court has discretion to order other methods of enforcement such as incarceration.
Generally, the person filing a contempt motion, must show that the other party 1) was aware of the terms of the order, 2) was able to comply with the order, and 3) willfully disobeyed the order.
For more information on filing for divorce or establishing a child support or spousal support order, call our offices at (949) 955-9155.
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David Wilkinson and Scott Finkbeiner are Certified Family Specialists through the Board of Legal Specialization of the State Bar of California. A Certified Family Law Specialist must pass an extensive written examination in the subject area, be approved by a peer review process and show proficiency in this area by demonstrating experience handling a sufficient number of family law cases with varying degrees of complexity.