1. What can I do if I get a child support order and the other parent disobeys the order by not paying?
2. What happens if I file a Complaint for Contempt against the other parent for disobeying the order to pay child support?
3. What can happen at the child support contempt hearing?

What can I do if I get a child support order and the other parent disobeys the order by not paying?

You can file a Complaint for Contempt, which is a legal case that asks the court to force the disobedient person to obey a court order, such as a child support order, by holding him or her in "contempt of court." The summons that the court issues in a contempt case requires the person alleged to be in violation of an order to appear in court at a particular time and show the court why he or she should not be held in contempt of court.

The court can force a person whom it has held in contempt of court to obey the order

• by ordering him or her to pay the child support that has gone unpaid (either all at once or in regular installments),
• by ordering him or her to participate in court-monitored job search (if he or she claims to have been unable to pay the child support because of being unemployed), or
• by ordering the person to be put in jail.

There is a court form for the Complaint for Contempt.

What happens if I file a Complaint for Contempt against the other parent for disobeying the order to pay child support?

If the other parent has been ordered to pay child support and has failed to pay the child support which was ordered, you can file a contempt case against the other parent to enforce your child support order. The Complaint for Contempt should be filed at the court where the child support order was issued. You must arrange for a copy of the Complaint for Contempt and another paper called the Summons to be served on the other parent, the defendant. Usually a deputy sheriff or Constable hands these papers to the defendant. The Summons says on what date you and the defendant are supposed to go into Court for the contempt hearing.

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 can happen at the 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.