How Does a Contempt Case Work to Enforce a Child Support Order

You file a contempt case when you need the court to enforce the child support order

In a contempt case about non payment of child support, you ask the court to force a parent that has disobeyed a child support order to comply.  

If you file and serve an Complaint for Contempt, the defendant (the parent you claim not to have paid child support as ordered) is notified to appear in court at a particular time and show the court why he or she should not be held in contempt of court.

If the defendant does not show up in court on the day of the contempt hearing, the judge may issue an civil arrest warrant called a "capias." A capias warrant is not the same as a criminal arrest warrant. With a criminal warrant, a person is taken into custody because he or she is a suspect in a crime, and once a person has been arrested on a criminal warrant, he or she may have to stay in jail until bailed, released, or acquitted. The purpose of the capias warrant, in a contempt case, however, is to get a person into court for the hearing. With a capias, a deputy sheriff or a constable can arrest the other parent and bring him or her to court for a hearing about the contempt case. If the defendant goes to court when the contempt hearing is scheduled, a capias warrant will not be issued.

What happens at a child support contempt hearing?

If you file a Complaint for Contempt claiming that the other parent (the defendant) did not pay child support as ordered, at court the defendant will have the burden of proving that he or she was unable to comply with the child support order.

If the judge finds the defendant in contempt, the judge is required to issue an order for the defendant to do one or more of the following:

• serve a sentence in jail. The sentence must be stayed (not carried out) if the defendant takes whatever action the judge orders, including one or more of the following, if ordered.
• pay the full amount due.
• make regular payments of current support and an additional amount specified to make up the arrears.
• look for a job and report what you have done to look for a job to a probation officer. This is sometimes called a "job search" order.
• participate in a program of community service and report proof of participation at regular intervals to a probation officer.
• participate in an appropriate job readiness or job training program and report proof of participation to a probation officer.

If the defendant is not able to make current support payments, and is unemployed and not disabled, the judge is required to order the last three things, the job search, community service, or job readiness or training, with proof of participation.

If the court finds that the defendant is in contempt for failure to comply with a child support order, the court can order him or her to pay your reasonable attorney's fees and expenses related to bringing the contempt case into court.