The Risk Of Contempt Of Court For Failing To Follow Divorce Decree
When you get divorced, you will end up receiving a document that contains all the agreements and arrangements of the divorce and you and your ex will both have to follow what this document says. This document is called a divorce decree, and it is important to understand that failing to follow this could result in contempt of court.
What is contempt of court?
Whenever the court issues an order, you are legally required to follow it. In a divorce, the order is the divorce decree and everything it states in it. If you do not follow what the court orders, the court can charge you with contempt of court. This is a legal offense, or charge, that can result in heavy consequences. If you want to avoid this charge, you will need to do what the divorce decree states, after your divorce.
What are ways spouses end up with contempt of court charges?
After a divorce, one spouse might not want to follow a certain order in the decree. Unfortunately, the spouse is required to, as it is a court order. One of the common ways that spouses fail to abide by the decree is by not being willing to surrender assets to the other person. If you are told that you must give an expensive collection to your ex after the divorce, refusing to do this would be and example of contempt of court. Another way this happens is when one spouse is ordered to pay a debt but refuses to pay it. This can also happen with child support, child custody, and child visitation orders.
What should you do if your ex is doing this?
If your ex is not following through with what the court ordered in your divorce, you should begin by creating a record of the problem. You should record each time you ask your ex for whatever it is, and you should record his or her responses. You should also record anything else your ex is doing wrong, simply so that you have a record of it.
Next, you should talk to a divorce lawyer for help. The lawyer might be able to settle the matter by sending a letter to your ex. If this does not work, you could take your ex to court. If the court agrees with you, your ex could end up facing legal problems due to committing contempt of court.